New Delhi: Coal India's output has risen by just 5.5 percent in the first nine months of the financial year as around one-third of their large mining projects have been running late due to difficulties in acquiring land and environmental clearances. The government is now seeking ways to accelerate 17 mines out of 51 large projects by Coal India that have fallen behind schedule.
Each mining project will get investments of above Rs 500 crore and an output of over 3 million tonnes annually.
However, further delay in getting the green nod would aggravate the poor coal supply situation more. The review meeting also discovered that four out of nine such projects of Neyveli Lignite Corp (NLC), Coal India's subsidiary, have also been delayed.
"Secretary (coal) expressed his concern for the delay in the implementation of various projects and asked to identify major reasons affecting completion of coal projects," the minutes of the meeting said.
Coal India's delayed projects include the Magadh expansion project, Karo open cast mine, Rajrappa, Basundhara West and Baround extension. Each of these projects has a combined production capacity of over 3 million tonnes annually.
Coal India had over 114 coal projects, each costing Rs 20 crore and over, at the end of the last financial year. However, 59 were facing delays.