From Independence onwards, the Central government gradually expanded its power over the Indian coal industry, culminating in nationlisation in the early 1970s. Above and beyond simple royalty sharing agreements, state-level claim-making on the industry has been forced to take more varied forms: union leadership, organised coal theft, extracting rents from subcontracting, and building public goods through state-owned enterprises. As a consequence, Coal India as an organisation has had to work as an intermediary between Central and State governments, becoming an essential political actor in coal-bearing areas. In parallel, since nationalisation, Coal India also had to manage its relative position, jockeying primarily with Railways and Power for pricing, resource allocation, and investment. Far from being a rule-taking, apolitical organisation, Coal India’s effectiveness has come largely from its ability to work with and around widely varying political environments around India.