New Delhi: Maharatna coal PSU, Coal India Limited (CIL) is looking at green mining options by leveraging a slew of eco-friendly technologies in both underground and opencast mines, a move that would help in augmenting production and reduce the adverse impact on the environment.

With land turning out to be a major pain point for the expansion of coal mining operations, these technologies bypass land acquisition and avoid its degradation.

"Coal India Ltd (CIL) is taking a close look at green mining options in a bid to minimise adverse environmental impact by leveraging a slew of eco-friendly technologies in its underground and opencast mines," the Maharatna firm said.

The locked-up coal assets left out earlier due to techno-commercial and safety concerns can now be unearthed through these technologies, it said.

The Public Sector Unit (PSU) is exploring ramping up its underground production by four-fold to 100 million tonnes (MT) by FY'30 from 25.6 MT in FY'22.

Production from underground mines is environmentally clean, minimally invasive on land degradation and society friendly, it said.

Around 70 percent of the country's coal reserves are conducive for underground mining. The aim is to make underground production sizably supplement the opencast output. At the current rate, mineable coal reserves at the existing opencast will slowly start lowering.

CIL accounts for over 80 percent of domestic coal output.

(With agency inputs)

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