NEW DELHI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday approved the creation of a unit to run a proposed national coal trading exchange.

Last year, India announced plans to establish a coal trading platform to buy and sell domestically produced coal amid surging output.

NSE will hold at least a 60% stake in the coal exchange, with the remaining 40% to be potentially allocated to other shareholders, the exchange operator said in a filing.

"The platform will enable electronic trading of physical coal through standardised contracts and facilitate physical delivery and, in future, derivative products, subject to regulatory approval," NSE said.

The exchange operator said the lack of a unified trading platform has resulted in price inefficiencies, limited access for smaller participants and the absence of a reliable spot benchmark.

State-owned Coal India currently accounts for about three-quarters of the more than 1 billion tonnes of coal mined in India, the world's second-largest coal market after China.

NSE said it will submit a licence application to the Coal Controller Organisation of India for the proposed exchange.