Coal India to double its production by 2019

WORLD'S largest coal miner Coal India Ltd. (CIL) is set to double its production within the next five year. Union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup on November 10 said the state-owned Maharatna PSU would mine 1,000 million tonnes of coal by 2019 -- doubling...

its present production of 500 million tonnes.

"The CIL has set a target to explore 1,000 million tonnes coal from various coal mines. Presently, it is exploring 500 million tonnes," Swarup said in Bhubeneswar after reviewing different projects of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. (MCL), a subsidiary of CIL, with the Odisha government officials.

The progress of 15 projects of MCL, including Angul-Sukinda common rail corridor, were reviewed at the meeting.

The coal ministry has targeted completion of the railway line project through which coal will be transported to various industries by December 2017.

"We have set a deadline to complete the railway project by December 2017. In the initial phase, 30-35 million tonnes coal would be transported while it would be increased to 200 million tonnes by 2019. The progress of the project is satisfactory in the state," said the coal secretary.

Earlier, the Container Corporation of India (Concor) decided to invest Rs.156 crore for 26 percent equity to participate in the Angul-Sukinda railway line project.

The project, being constructed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, will provide a rail link to the steel and power plants located in Angul, Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts.

As the Odisha government has requested the Centre to provide coal blocks to state PSUs during allocation, the coal secretary said he will examine the proposal of the government.

Pati also advised MCL authorities to prepare a comprehensive exit plan for exhausted coal mines involving the state government so that the area can be rehabilitated appropriately for creation of livelihood options and conservation of environment.

The issues relating to exploration proposal of CMPDIL coal blocks in Odisha were also discussed in the meeting. There are near about 13 CMPDIL coal blocks in Angul, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts of Odisha State. The total forest area to be explored in these blocks is around 43 sq km.

Around 70 percent of the country's total installed power capacity of 250,000 MW is generated using coal as fuel.

The shortages in the supply of coal also have a direct political impact as millions of people in India are without power, and blackouts are a common phenomenon. Coal shortages are also slowing down industrial activity in the country.

CIL and its seven subsidiaries produce about 80 percent of India's coal output at 450 million tonnes.

But the Maharatna PSU has repeatedly failed to meet production targets, leading to heavy dependence on imported coal.

Union government is set to undertake the restructuring of state behemoth and world's largest coal miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), by creating multiple mega coal companies in line with the recommendations of a government-commissioned study by global consulting firm Deloitte.

Coal India Limited (CIL) is the single largest coal producing company in the world and is the largest corporate employer in India with around 3.42 lakh employees, contributing around 81 percent of the total coal production in India. CIL operates 471 mines in 21 major coalfields across eight states in India. In 2013-14, the Maharatna PSU produced 471.581 MTs of coal playing a vital role to serve power to the country.