Modi govt stands firm in coal faceoff as unions call off strikes

New Delhi

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced down the first major opposition to his economic agenda as coal unions called off a two-day-old strike that had threatened to paralyse the nation.

The unions at the world's biggest coal miner, Coal India Ltd, agreed to end the planned five-day action late Tuesday after a seven-hour meeting with Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi. The government will establish a committee with labour representatives on it to look into the unions' demands, Mr Goyal said. Concerns over the potential privatisation of Coal India were "unfounded", he said.

Mr Modi's cabinet in October issued an executive order that included a provision to allow private companies to enter into th…