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Coal bed methane (CBM) obtained in the deep unmined coal reserves stands as a promising alternative source of energy for the diversified energy needs. Biogenic methane can consist of the significant portion of the gas from the coal beds as a result of microbial activity on the coal. The growing interest of enhancing the CBM production led to obtain the detailed information of the microbes and the development of a suitable microbial consortium capable of biotransforming coal to methane from the coal dust and the selectively enriched sump sediment water of the underground coal mines of the Jharia basin in the present study for the first time. The change of zeta potential from − 40.6 to − 8.3 mV indicated the probable modification of coal structure by the microbes. The collected subbituminous pure coal revealed a decrease in carbon content from 60.33% to 54.22% when inoculated with the enriched sump sediment …