June 6, 2012. The government has chosen home minister P Chidambaram to head the group of ministers (GoM) to decide on a regulator for the coal sector. The union cabinet had referred the draft coal regulatory authority bill to a GoM. The coal sector has been in the headlines with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) alleging a loss of '10.67 lakh crore to the government on account of allotment of coal blocks to 100 private and public sector companies between 2004 and 2009. The regulatory authority is proposed to be put in place to encourage investments in the coal mining sector, enable a level playing field and ensure a transparent allotment process for future coal blocks.