New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS): The CPI-M Wednesday criticized the government decision to e-auction coal blocks and demanded that state-owned Coal India must be tasked to do all coal mining in the country.

After the Supreme Court quashed the allocation of 214 coal blocks, the government "seems to have decided to promulgate an ordinance empowering it to take back these blocks and reallocate them to private entities", it said.

"This completely nullifies the coal nationalization act of 1973," the Communist Party of India-Marxist said.

"Coal was nationalized as a precious national asset required for the country's development especially to provide energy resources... By an open market e-auction this objective would be negated."

The CPI-M asked the government to implement the 1973 act in right earnest.

"Coal India must be empowered to undertake all mining in the country and after allocating the resource for the public sector and state electricity boards for providing power to the people, the remaining may be sold in the open market for private corporates," it said.