Coal news and updates

Bihar will get 486mt coal; JV pact inked

Bihar will get 486 million tonne coal in future from a coal block located in Birbhum district of West Bengal, according to a joint venture agreement signed among six states and Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) in Kolkata on Wednesday. Bihar's share will be used to generate 3,960MW of power at power plants slated to come up in Buxar, Lakhisarai and Pirpainti.

The agreement has been signed among Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and SJVNL for formation of a joint venture company for mining coal from Deocha Pachami coal block in Birbhum. Deocha Pachami coal block is the largest coal block in the country.

The coal share of Bihar in Deocha Pachami coal block is the second largest after the host state West Bengal. The estimated geological reserves of the coal block is 2,102 million tonne, out of which 486 million tonne is allotted to Bihar.

According to a press note issued by the state information and public relations department on Thursday, CM Jitan Ram Manjhi played a key role in allocation of coal block by the Union government besides taking an initiative for the joint venture agreement among the states concerned. As a result, Bihar took the lead role in negotiating and finalizing the agreement and enabling the execution of the joint venture in record time.

Source: The Times of India