中文
State mining group Coal India Ltd has developed 52 coal mining projects, including 13 new mines, as part of its efforts to achieve the coal production target of 1 billion tonnes by the fiscal year 2025-26, a senior officer said.
This development aims to bolster India's domestic coal production and reduce dependence on coal imports.
In addition to expanding and establishing new mining projects, the company is also exploring underground coal mining to access higher-grade coal, thereby reducing the need for imports. Out of the 52 mining projects, 8 are underground mines.
During the fiscal year 2022-23, Coal India produced 703 million tonnes of coal, and the target for the year 2023-24 is set at 780 million tonnes. The company has set an ambitious goal of reaching a coal production of 1 billion tonnes by the fiscal year 2025-26, with the potential to export the surplus coal to countries like Nepal and Bangladesh.
The 52 mining projects combined have a total capacity of 271 million tonnes per annum and are expected to commence production during the fiscal year 2025-26. The peak production capacity of these mines is estimated to be 445 Mtpa, with some mines reaching their peak capacity by the fiscal year 2030-31.
The company highlighted that its subsidiary, Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), is currently developing 15 mining projects in Maharashtra. Furthermore, the company is progressing with 13 new projects, which are expected to add a production capacity of 27.4 Mtpa by the fiscal year 2025-26.
Meanwhile, in an effort to minimize the environmental impact, Coal India is focusing on clean mining technologies. Additionally, the company plans to quadruple the production capacity of underground mines from the current 26 million tonnes to 100 million tonnes by the fiscal year 2027-28.
India's Minister of Coal, Amrit Lal Meena, recently announced plans to close approximately 30 coal mines over the next 3-4 years to protect forests and water bodies.
However, he also projected that India's coal consumption would increase from 892 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2022-23 to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030 and continue to rise to 2 billion tonnes by 2040.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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