NCL is keen to promote sustainable coal mining: AK Jain

New Delhi: Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) is keen to promote sustainable coal mining which is getting reflected in the recent initiatives by the coal Miniratna, said Ministry of Coal's Secretary Dr Anil Kumar Jain on his visit to NCL on Friday.

While interacting with senior NCL officials, he emphasised scaling up coal production and dispatch in a sustainable manner to make the nation self-reliant in the energy sector. He exhorted to adopt innovative means in the mining process to mitigate its impact on the environment and urged team NCL to embrace business diversification. NCL CMD Bhola Singh, Director (P&P), CVO, and senior officials remain present in the meeting.

On Thursday, Secretary Coal Dr Anil Kumar Jain along with Ministry of Coal's Joint Secretary Vismita Tej arrived at NCL Singrauli.

Secretary Coal also laid down the foundation stone of the 50 MW Solar Power plant in the Nigahi Area. The plant will be set up over an area of 129.35 hectares of land with a total power generation of 94 million units per year and lead to reduce carbon emissions by 78,020 tonnes per year. The generated power will be consumed for operational and other purposes by NCL. The company is set to achieve 273-megawatt power generation in the coming time from renewable sources to achieve the target of net zero.

He visited the Nigahi open cast coal mine and oversaw the mine operation. He also inspected the site of the ongoing first-mile connectivity project (Coal Handling Plant) at Jayant Area. NCL is working on such nine first mile connectivity projects with an investment of more than Rs 3100 crores out of which two projects have already been completed. With the completion of these FMC projects till 2023-24, NCL will capable to despatch its almost produced coal through eco-friendly and mechanized mode.

Anil Kumar Jain along with Joint Secretary Vismita Tej interacted with various stakeholders of the company including coal consumers i.e. prominent power Gencos during the visit.

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