Coal Minister lays foundation stone of FMC and road infra projects in NCL

New Delhi: Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi laid the foundation stone for Rs 1,538.05 crore first-mile connectivity (FMC) and the road infrastructure projects of Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) on Tuesday. Minister inaugurated the projects through virtual mode in presence of Minister of State for Coal Raosaheb Patil Danve.

During the occasion, Coal Secretary Dr Anil Kumar Jain (IAS), Coal India Limited's (CIL) Chairman Pramod Agrawal, NCL's CMD Bhola Singh, Functional Directors of NCL, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Coal and Coal India remained present.

On this occasion, Joshi congratulated NCL for its continuous stellar performance. He said that the completion of the FMC projects will improve the air quality, eliminate the problems like under-loading and overloading. The development of road infrastructure in the mine area will foster smooth coal dispatch even during the rainy season. Joshi complemented NCL for these initiatives.

Speaking on the occasion, Danve said that NCL can play a crucial role in attaining a production target of 1 billion tones by 2024-25. He praised NCL for taking pro-people and pro-environment steps.

The foundation stone was laid for the expansion of 10 MTPA Coal Handling Plant in the Nigahi Project and 9.5 MTPA in the Bina-Kakri Project with a total cost of Rs 1,364.8 crore which is expected to be complete by December 2023.

The FMC projects will give impetus to company's commitment towards sustainable and green mining and will also reduce the loading time of rakes and eliminate the underloading & overloading problems.

Big Boost to Road Infrastructure in Coal Mines and Surrounding Areas

Joshi also laid the foundation stone of road development projects in the mining areas with a capital expenditure of approx 148.4 crores. Under this project, a total of 49.64 KM of cement concrete (CC) road will be constructed for internal coal transportation within the coal mines of NCL spread across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states.

These all-whether roads will help to reduce the dust generated in the mines, ease the transportation during monsoon and also reduce the maintenance cost of vehicles. Significantly, the problems faced during the monsoon while transporting the coal within the mines will be solved once the roads will be constructed.

Not only this but a 3.1 km long with a width of 18 meters five-lane cement concrete (CC) Road from Jayant to Singrauli will also be constructed with a capital cost of Rs 24.45 crores. These feet will improve road safety to the general public besides reducing pollution and traffic congestion.

Inauguration of E-Book "Redefining Green''

NCL's e-Book "Redefining Green'' is also inaugurated during the program. The book is an effort to document & showcase the Company's initiatives towards promoting sustainable mining practices. The Book portrays the company's initiatives towards Environmental, Social, and Workforce Sustainability.

In line with the company's commitment towards sustainable and green mining, NCL is implementing nine FMC projects to provide a pollution-free state-of-the-art rake loading system at a total capital expenditure of Rs 3,186 crores.

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