Operationalise commercial, captive coal mines faster: G Kishan Reddy at review meet

New Delhi: Union Minister for Coal G Kishan Reddy stressed on the need to operationalise commercial and captive coal mines at the earliest to increase India's domestic coal production and substitute imports. Reddy held a meeting with the officials of the Coal Ministry on Thursday to review the management of captive and commercial coal blocks.

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Highlighting the need for higher production of coal to reduce imports so as to achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta in coal,’ the minister directed that necessary institutional strengthening may be supported at the state level. "All coal block allocattees should be facilitated on regular basis so that coal mines can be operationalised at the earliest," said a statement issued by the Ministry of Coal.

The Minister has called for close coordination with all the stakeholders, including state governments and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, for early resolution of the issues facing coal block allocatees to ensure faster clearance to operationalise the allotted coal blocks in the least possible time.

Captive, commercial mines contributed 15% to coal production last FY

So far, Ministry of Coal has allocated/ auctioned 161 coal mines with peak rated capacity of 575 MT. Out of which 58 mines have received mine opening permission and 54 mines are into operation. Last year these mines have produced total of 147 MT of coal, which constitutes 15 percent of the total coal production of the country.

"The captive/commercial coal miners are primarily large-sized consumers, including NTPC, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), Vedanta, Hindalco, Adani, etc. Therefore, higher production by these companies would ease out pressure on the demand of coal from CIL which will have a cascading effect on the auction prices of coal. With higher production from captive/commercial coal blocks, the premium on auction will come down. Therefore, coal would be made available at cheaper rates to the different consumers in the country. This will help in checking inflation as coal is the primary source of energy not only for power but all other sectors including steel, fertilizers, aluminum, cement, paper, sponge iron etc," said the statement.

Captive, commercial mines should produce 175 MT coal this year: Reddy

Reddy further directed that a detailed exploration should be carried out at a faster pace and more and more blocks should be offered in the subsequent rounds of auctions, so that more and more investors participate.

In line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve energy independence by 2047 and Aatmanirbharta in coal sector, the minister has advised all stakeholders to work hard and to achieve at least 175 MTcoal production during this year from captive/commercial coal blocks, recording a growth of 19 percent. Reddy will launch the 10th round of commercial auction of coal mines on June 21.

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