Government Aims 1 Billion Tonne Coal Production In FY24 Under Action Plan

In a first, the coal ministry has set an ambitious target of 1 billion tonne coal production during 2023-24 under its 'Action Plan' for the sector and a capex target of Rs 21,030 crore for its PSUs.

In a statement, the ministry said it has conceptualized the Action Plan for FY24 with the goal of achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat by enhancing the production, efficiency, sustainability, new technologies etc in the coal sector.

"It is an ambitious, well-crafted roadmap that covers a variety of areas including a total coal production target of 1012 MT for 2023-24," it said.

The ministry has already taken various steps to increase the coal production and efficiency like mining developers cum operators (MDO) for the operationalization of CIL (Coal India) mines/blocks and production in discontinued/abandoned mines on the revenue sharing basis.

The ministry has also formulated a strategy to enhance coking coal availability in the country to reduce imports. Coal companies along with the ministry has taken various measures to achieve the objective of supply of quality coal to all consumers.

For undertaking the job of sampling and analysis of coal samples at loading end, third party sampling agencies have been empanelled for both power and non-power coal consumers.

"The capex target for FY24 is Rs 21,030 crore with CIL Rs 16,500 crore, NLCIL: Rs 2,880 crore and SCCL: Rs 1650 crore) The overall projected target of assets monetization plan for FY 2023-24 is Rs 50,118.61 crore," the ministry said.

During FY23, the ministry signed agreements for a total of 23 coal mines having cumulative PRC of 33.224 MTPA and these mines are expected to generate an annual revenue of Rs 4,700.80 crore calculated at PRC (Peak Rated Capacity).

These mines are expected to provide both direct and indirect employment to 44,906 people. Considering the good response received for the sixth round of commercial auctions, it is expected that 25 coal mines will be allocated during 2023-24 for commercial mining.

In consultation with Ministry of Railways, the coal ministry said it is closely monitoring the new railway line projects that are critical for coal evacuation and is undertaking mapping of coal sector on NMP and use of Dashboards on NMP. It has also adopted a coal logistics policy/plan for effective and environment- friendly transport of coal, as logistics is a crucial component of the coal supply chain.

Mine closure activities will begin this year at a significant number of CIL and SCCL mines as per the guidelines issued by the ministry in October 2022.

Besides, the ministry will circulate the monitoring framework for coal companies towards implementation of technology roadmap in digitalisation and integration of subsystems, use of new technology (drone, remote sensing), blast free coal mining to promote efficiency, safety and environment.

"As part of diversification initiatives of the ministry, Coal India is being diversified for sustainable future business operations like new business areas (aluminium, power, solar wafer, solar power and renewable), expansion of core business etc." it said.

The action plan will pave the path to development and will have a positive impact on coal’s growth trajectory along with a sustainable future, the ministry said.