Close to eight months after initiating the process, Coal India is reviving the plans to pump up its cash reserves by making its mining subsidiaries buy back their shares.

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After Coal India's wholly-owned subsidiary Northern Coalfields announced up to Rs 1,244.12 crore buyback of up to 4.29% of its equity on Saturday, another subsidiary, South Eastern Coalfields, on Monday approved a buyback of Rs 1,200 crore.

Last year in June, subsidiaries like Central Coalfields, Western Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields had approved buyback, and analysts said similar announcements would come from these companies in the next few days.

"Coal India is taking back the money from its arms so that it can pay the government when it would later pay its shareholders including the government through dividend or buyback of its shares," an analyst told DNA Money.

Coal India Board is meeting on March 6 to decide on an interim dividend.

Coal India in October bought back and cancelled 10.89 crore shares, following which its share capital comprises 620.74 crore shares.

South Eastern has approved a buyback of 150,443 fully paid equity shares of face value of Rs 1,000 each at a price of Rs 79,777 a share representing 4.18% of paid up equity capital of the subsidiary at a total outflow of not exceeding Rs 1,200 crore. Whereas, Northern Coalfields has approved a buyback of 76,356 fully paid equity shares of face value Rs 1,000 each for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 1,244.12 crore.

Coal India is a holding company for nine subsidiaries including one consultancy arm and one overseas arm, Coal India Africana Limitada.

Except for the consultancy subsidiaries, all others undertake actual mining operations having their own independent Boards, while Coal India's standalone income consists mostly of dividend income from these subsidiaries.

Coal India, coupled with these subsidiaries, has a whopping cash stash of not less than Rs 60,000 crore.