BCCL recovers 15,416 tonnes in illegal coal mining crackdown, 0.03% of a year’s output

New Delhi: Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) has recovered 15,416.31 tonnes of illegal coal over the past 17 months in what the Coal India subsidiary calls "one of the biggest crackdowns on illegal (coal) mining" in the Jharkhand coal belt. Of that, 10,007.27 tonnes came in FY2025-26 and 5,409.04 tonnes between April 1 and August 31 this year, BCCL told PSU Watch. Set against the 35.52 million tonnes (MT) the company produced last fiscal, the FY26 recovery works out to 0.03 percent of its output.

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BCCL said that the operation is being carried out jointly by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the BCCL management, and the local administration. “BCCL officials, CISF personnel and the concerned local authorities are coordinating on the ground for identification, prevention and closure of illegal mining activities,” the state-run coal miner told PSU Watch.

Vehicles seizures have increased but mostly small carriers

Vehicle seizures show the sharpest change, and they also show who is being caught. BCCL seized 114 vehicles between April and August, against 63 in all of 2025-26. Almost all of that increase came from small carriers. Motorcycle seizures rose from 34 to 61, and bicycles from seven to 35. Handcarts, or thelas, fell from eight to six. The ‘other vehicles’ category, which covers trucks and tippers, went the other way, down from 14 last year to 12 this year. On BCCL’s own numbers, the drive is catching the people carrying coal more often than the ones moving it in bulk.

Checks on the roads have also stepped up. Between July 1 and August 31, BCCL carried out 8,677 surprise vehicle checks. In the same period it verified 5,975 vehicles through M-Parivahan, the government’s vehicle registration app.

The company said that it filled 224 illegal rat holes in the five-month period, just over half of the 445 it filled in 2025-26. It registered 19 First Information Reports (FIRs) related to coal, just over two-thirds of the previous year’s 28. By August 31, it had carried out 993 raids across its areas, “including locations where CISF is not deployed.”

The drive is being run under the Zero Coal Leakage Policy. Under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, “39 MMDR cases have been registered so far, while remaining 63 cases are currently under process,” BCCL said.

Theft ‘not feasible’ to measure

BCCL has not put a number on how much coal it loses. The company said much of the theft happens close to where people live. “Illegal mining and coal theft are not confined only to abandoned mines. A number of vulnerable mining locations are situated in close proximity to densely populated bastis (hamlets), making such locations easily accessible to local persons involved in unauthorised coal lifting and transportation through motorcycles, tokaries and other means,” it said. Tokaries are the baskets used to carry coal by hand.

That same pattern, it added, makes the losses impossible to add up. “In view of the clandestine and scattered nature of such activities, coupled with the fact that the coal is generally lifted in small quantities through individual/manual means, it is not feasible to accurately ascertain the actual quantity/tonnage of coal stolen,” the company said.

34 closed mines without CISF cover

The operation spans 71 sites, and CISF does not yet guard all of them. “The operation covers all identified vulnerable locations, including active BCCL mines, patches and abandoned mines,” BCCL said. “Out of 71 mines/patches/abandoned mines, 37 are presently manned by CISF, while 34 closed mines are yet to be covered by CISF.”

Nor is the problem limited to old workings. “Illegal mining is not confined to abandoned mines and may also occur around operational and contractor-operated sites,” BCCL said. “Further operations will focus on remaining vulnerable locations based on ground assessment and priority.”

Pressure along the supply chain

BCCL said it is going after the whole chain, not just the diggers. “The action targets the entire illegal coal supply chain — illegal extraction, transportation, and handling of illegally mined coal,” it said. “Pressure is being applied at mining sites, transportation routes, check posts, storage points and identified hotspots, with the objective of disrupting the network at every stage.”

The coal belt in Jharkhand has both organised rat-hole operations and residents who carry coal away on bicycles. BCCL said it makes no distinction at the point of detection. “Any act of illegal mining, unauthorised coal collection or transportation is promptly detected and controlled through raids, surprise vehicle checks and ICCC surveillance, irrespective of whether the activity involves organised operators or local residents,” it said. “Appropriate legal action is taken based on the nature and scale of the offence.”

ICCC refers to the Integrated Command and Control Centre, one of several monitoring systems in use. “Technology is being used extensively for surveillance, including VTS, ICCC, CCTV, ANPR, drones, night-vision systems and AI-enabled monitoring, which together help in real-time tracking, detection and prompt response to suspicious activities,” BCCL said. VTS stands for vehicle tracking system, and ANPR for automatic number plate recognition.

ED raids against coal mafia in Dhanbad

Alongside BCCL’s operation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been pursuing a separate money laundering investigation into the illegal coal trade in Dhanbad. On July 28, the agency’s Ranchi Zonal Office searched premises linked to an outsourcing contractor and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kaaryakarta, LB Singh, and coal trader Anil Goyal, along with their associates. Singh’s Dev Prabha Construction Pvt Ltd handles mining and transport operations for BCCL.

The agency is reported to have identified assets of more than Rs 600 crore, frozen roughly Rs 160 crore in mutual fund investments linked to Singh, and seized about Rs 1.02 crore in unaccounted cash. Documents relating to over 200 properties were taken along with digital devices and financial records, and remain under examination. Others named in reports of the searches include Ganesh Yadav, Pappu Mandal, Anoop Chauhan, Harendra Chauhan and former assembly election candidate Rohit Yadav. In August, the ED summoned five people, among them Singh’s wife Aarti Singh, and Shabbir Alam and Mahendra Singh, reported to be associated with Goyal.

The two lines of action sit at different ends of the same trade. One is filling rat holes and stopping bicycles and motorcycles. The other is examining assets worth hundreds of crores, some of them held by a contractor who works for BCCL. The distinction in scale of these two operations indicates that the size of the illegal coal trade in Jharkhand is likely much larger than what BCCL has been targeting.

BCCL’s illegal coal mining crackdown to continue

BCCL has not set a deadline since coal theft is a widely prevalent problem in the coal belt in Jharkhand. “The drive is ongoing and will continue as required, with sustained efforts to ensure zero illegal mining and coal theft,” the company said. “There is a long-term plan to continue surveillance and enforcement. The strategy will focus on AI-enabled CCTV surveillance and the effective integration of all available digital surveillance systems, including CCTV/ICCC, VTS, drones, RFID, ANPR and other technological solutions. This will be complemented by intelligence-based operations, optimal utilisation of available manpower and focused deployment in vulnerable areas,” the company added.

“The major challenges are the vastness of the operational area, difficult and inaccessible terrain, and the scattered location of mines and illegal mining openings, which make continuous surveillance and effective physical domination challenging,” it said. It added that “the situation is being brought under control” through tactical deployment, regular raids and surprise checks.

Asked what had changed on the ground, the company pointed to public attitudes. “The public perception has changed significantly. There is now greater awareness that illegal mining and coal theft will not be tolerated, which has created a stronger deterrence on the ground,” BCCL said.

Part of ‘Zero Coal Leakage’ push

BCCL tied the drive directly to the Ministry of Coal’s policy. “The ongoing drive against illegal mining, coal theft and unauthorised transportation is a direct effort towards effective implementation of the Ministry of Coal’s ‘Zero Coal Leakage Tolerance Policy,’” it said.

The push has backing from the top of government. In July, PSU Watch reported that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asked CISF to enforce a “zero coal leakage plan” to curb illegal mining in Dhanbad. He did so at a meeting attended by Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy. At that meeting, CISF and Coal India officials were given powers under the MMDR Act to file cases, conduct searches and seize illegally mined coal.

Output down, shares below listing price

The crackdown comes as BCCL’s production and earnings have been falling. The company produced 35.52 MT of coal in 2025-26, down 12.3 percent from 40.50 MT the year before. Offtake fell to 33.05 million tonnes from 38.25 million tonnes. Standalone net profit for the year dropped to Rs 128.28 crore from Rs 1,240.19 crore.

The first quarter of 2026-27 was weaker still. Production fell to 6.56 MT from 9.04 MT a year earlier, and offtake slipped to 7.72 MT from 8.98 MT. Revenue from operations declined 3.56 percent to Rs 3,587.27 crore. BCCL posted a net loss of Rs 68.09 crore, against a profit of Rs 176.87 crore in the same quarter last year. Monthly output has since picked up: coking coal production rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in August, to 2.18 MT.

BCCL said the enforcement drive is helping protect its business. The measures have had “a positive impact by strengthening control over coal resources, reducing unauthorised mining and transportation, improving monitoring of vulnerable areas, and supporting the protection of production and revenue,” the company said.

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BCCL listed on the stock exchanges on January 19 this year, after Coal India sold shares worth Rs 1,071.11 crore through an offer for sale at Rs 23 each. The company itself received none of the proceeds. The stock debuted at Rs 45 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), a premium of 95.65 percent. After the first-quarter results on July 22, it fell 7 percent to Rs 34.88. On Wednesday, stocks closed at Rs 32.40, against a 52-week low of Rs 29.74.

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