CIL board clears 18 new mining projects with Rs 2,125-crore investment

Coal India has taken possession of 4,083.51 hectares of land for expansion of its mining projects, chairman and MD Pramod Agarwal said at the company’s 46th annual general meeting on Wednesday.

The board has cleared 18 new mining projects with rated capacity of 132.04 mt with a sanctioned capital of Rs 2,124. 55 crore. This has been done to enhance its production with the company given a revised target to produce 650 million tonne in FY21. Earlier, it was given a target to produce 710 mt.

Since the company has decided to open up its underground mines, which had been gradually closed down over the years, CIL has decided to deploy 26 continuous miners in 19 underground mines to start with.

Agarwal told shareholders that CIL and its subsidiaries payed Rs 43,508.72 crore towards royalty, GST cess, District Mineral Foundation and National Mineral Exploration Trust during the fiscal.

Though worldwide the power sector was moving towards green energy, in India coal continues to remain the primary source of energy, accounting for 72% of the country’s total electricity generation, he said.

Coal accounted for 55% of the country’s primary commercial energy.

However, to move towards clean technology, the company is embarking on surface coal gasification. Keeping the growth of renewable energy in mind, CIL has already initiated diversification and has formed joint ventures to set up two fertiliser units at Talcher and Gorakhpur, the contracts of which have already been awarded. For the Talcher fertiliser plant, CIL has formed a JV with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertiliser, GAIL and Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCIL). For the plant at Gorakhpur, CIL has formed a JV with NTPC, IOCL, FCIL and Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation.

For FY20, the company reported a net profit of Rs 16,700.34 crore on net sales of Rs 89,373.34 crore. All the subsidiaries earned profit during the fiscal, Agarwal said.