Coal news and updates

Ministry seeks action plan to improve coal output

The Coal Ministry has asked India’s largest coal miner Coal India Limited (CIL) to submit a detailed subsidiary wise plan for improving coal production from its 237 underground coal mines.

The ministry has asked CIL which produced nearly 80 per cent of India’s coal about the possibility of introducing state-of-the-art technology to harvest more coal from its underground mines.

At present CIL is  mining 37 million tonnes of coal. Last year as per Coal Ministry statistics India’s coal demand stood at 769 million tons against domestic production of 546 million tons which led India to import coal at a premium.

Shortage of coal has left several thermal power plants with critical coal stocks to fire their power plants.

CIL has not been able to meet the India coal needs for a variety of reasons including environmental clearances for mining at some of its fields.

Sources said CIL India has also been asked to find out “whether opting for underground mining would have any additional benefit in protecting the forest existing above mining areas.”

Apart from asking the miner the reasons for less production from its mines despite deployment of huge manpower the ministry has also asked the Maharatna about the domestic coal production  statistics in the last decade from both open cast as well as underground mines.

Coal India had missed its output target of 482 MT for 2013-14. It produced 462 MT during the period. Of the 462 MT coal production in FY'14, 37 MT was from underground mines. Production fell short of target because of various reasons, including lack of environment clearance to coal mining projects.

In 2012-13, the company produced 452.5 MT of coal, falling short of the 464 MT target. Coal India's production target for 2014-15 has been set at 507 MT, while the off-take target is 520 MT.

In the 12th Five Year Plan, the demand for coal is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% till 2016-17 and reach 980.5 MT.

By 2021-22 coal demand is expected to be in the vicinity of 1373 MT and is expected to grow at 7%.

CIL operates 429 mines of which 237 are underground, 166 opencast and 26 mixed mines.

Source: The New Indian Express