New Delhi The coal ministry has proposed a sovereign fund to facilitate the acquisition of coal properties abroad. The proposal comes following the demands from steel, fertiliser and power companies that have been trying hard to buy mineral assets in countries like Indonesia and Australia. “Though Coal India has surplus resources for investing outside, it is important to have financial support from the government for acquiring very large assets abroad," coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference. Jaiswal said the size of the fund and other modalities would be worked out once the proposal is approved. "There are issues that need to be resolved urgently in regard to acquisitions abroad. The decision-making process needs to be fast-tracked and a policy support framework needs to be established to overcome risk aversion," he said. The overseas acquisition of coal blocks is significant as the country struggles with acute shortage of coal and is unable to meet the demands from sectors like steel, power and cement. The coal production in the country is estimated to increase to 554 million tonne (mt) in 2012, against 533.12 mt last year. However, the demand for coal is 690 mt per year. The government had earlier estimated that the domestic coal production would touch around 680 mt by the end of current financial year. However, the estimates were scaled down to 630 mt in the mid-term appraisal. The country's biggest coal miner — Coal India — too has slowed down in the production. The company produced 435.84 mt coal during 2011-12 as against the original target of 486 mt. The government has also shortlisted 54 coal blocks, which will be auctioned to companies for industrial use. Jaiswal said that the competitive bidding of these blocks will begin in a month or two. About the coal tegulator, the minister said, "The Bill in this regard is likely to come before the Cabinet next week."