Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) is one of the largest coal producing company of India. It is one of the eight fully owned subsidiaries of Coal India Limited

Coal India Limited

Coal India Limited is an Indian state-controlled coal company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the world's largest coal miner with revenue exceeding 60,245 Crore . It was formerly owned entirely by the Union Government of India, under the administrative control of the Ministry of...

. The company came in to existence in 1975 after nationalization of coal mines in India

Coal mining in India

Coal mining in India has a long history of commercial exploitation covering nearly 220 years starting in 1774 with John Sumner and Suetonius Grant Heatly of the East India Company in the Raniganj Coalfield along the Western bank of river Damodar...

. It inherited all the private sector coal mines of the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Coalfields. WCL has its head office at Nagpur

Nagpur

Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...

. The company at present owns 84 mines spread through Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 and Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

. It is a Mini Ratna CPSE in coal under the administrative control of Ministry of Coal.

In 1985, Western Coalfields Limited was bifurcated and a new company South Eastern Coalfields Limited

South Eastern Coalfields Limited

South Eastern Coalfields Limited is the largest coal producing company of India. It is one of the eight fully owned subsidiaries of Coal India Limited. The company has its head office at Bilaspur and mines spread over Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh. It has total 92 Mines. Total Underground Mines...

was formed out of it, when a major part of its mines were transferred to SECL. The division was done by Government of India for administrative purpose.