CIL Chairman praises MCL for surpassing coal production target by 16%

Sambalpur (Odisha): Coal India Ltd (CIL) Chairman Pramod Agrawal lauded Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) on Tuesday for surpassing the coal production target so far by 15.9 percent or almost 19 million tonnes (MT). Agrawal, while addressing Team MCL at a meeting through video-conferencing on Tuesday morning, said, "With your dedication and thorough planning, you (MCL) have made the enhanced target also look easy and there's no doubt that it will be achieved soon and I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Team MCL for registering a growth of 15.9 percent over the targeted production of coal, which is almost 19 million tonnes."

"The most important fact was that the Company had given due importance to the overburden (OB) removal," the Chairman noted, and said, "Ten percent increase over the target in the OBR gives us a satisfaction and confidence that in the coming months of April, May and June, which may be challenging for Coal India, you will be making major contribution and (will) help meet the energy demand of the nation."

Confident that MCL will produce 6 lakh tonnes of coal everyday: CIL Chairman

"The way you have been contributing, I am confident you will manage to produce six lakh tonnes coal daily and Coal India will achieve the 700 million tonne coal production target this financial year," the Chairman said, referring to the challenges that made the achievement of the target challenging by limiting production operations in some of Coal India subsidiaries.

'Demand for coal will increase'

Predicting that the demand for power will increase in the coming days, Agrawal said, "There will be increased demand for coal from Coal India, and MCL, which is successfully supplying about 4.35 lakh tonnes of coal daily to the power sector. We will have to increase the contribution."

To bring down the pressure of coal demand from the grid and keeping in mind the limitations of rail infrastructure in place, the Chairman said that Captive Power Producers (CPPs) in the vicinity would have to be given priority for coal dispatch as they lift coal via road mode and have their own wagons as well.

Quality of domestic coal improved from 51% to 69%: Govt

Expressing his satisfaction with the progress made by MCL in completing the ongoing FMC (First Mile Connectivity) projects, the CIL CMD emphasised on the need for timely completion of FMC projects as they are critical for both MCL as well as Coal India in view of increasing pressure on road transportation.

The Chairman also appreciated the advancements made by MCL in setting up MDO (mine developer-cum-operator) projects.

Asserting that the issues of Environmental (EC) and Forest Clearances (FC) are being successfully dealt with active support at ministerial levels, Agrawal advised that MCL should continue to make consistent efforts towards sustainability and ensure that the conditions of EC and FC are being complied with for coal mining operations.

OP Singh, MCL CMD, MCL, Keshav Rao, Director (Personnel), Jugal Kumar Borah, Director (Technical) and Ajit Kumar Behura, Director (Finance) were among the senior officers from the headquarters and mining areas who were present at the morning meeting, which is a routine that the company follows daily for better coordination and execution of planned activities.

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