The coal sector has played a key role in India's emergence as a global economic power. Minister of State for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal, who also handles the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, fully understands the weight of expectations and the challenges faced by the coal sector. He has managed to interlink his two portfolios in a way that success in one reflects in the performance of the other. The minister talks about the future of coal as a energy source and his ministry's ongoing battle with the environment ministry in an interview.