In a move which may open a Pandora’s box for the Centre, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has sought coal at a special subsidised rate for local consumption from the Planning Commission. Ms Banerjee told Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that since 80 per cent of coal is sourced from West Bengal, the state should be given the mineral at a special subsidised rate.

Sources said that the Planning Commission members were taken aback by the demand of the temperamental West Bengal chief minister, as the move if at all considered could lead to similar demands from other coal mining states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.