Coal resources of Coal India Limited (CIL) received a major boost after recent allocation of 16 new coal blocks by the Government of India to the Maharatna coal mining PSU. The resource capacity of CIL increased substantially as a result of this move.
At the current rate of coal production and even after taking into account the projected growth in the ensuing years the present reserves of the coal mining behemoth will be adequate to meet the expanding coal demand of the country at least for the next 25 to 30 years.
In a recent performance review meeting of CIL Minister of Coal, Pralhad Joshi expressed his confidence that coal will continue to dominate the country’s energy scenario fueling half of the country’s power generation even in 2030 despite the inroads being made by renewables.
What makes coal a preferred fuel of choice in the country is its abundance, availability and affordability. Allaying the apprehensions that CIL’s role may cease soon a company official said “A NITI Ayog estimate confirmed that the share of coal in the energy mix in 2040 would be at least 44%” adding, “since CIL spearheads the country’s coal production meeting around 82% of the entire coal output Coal India will continue to play a large role in ensuring the energy sufficiency of the country in the future.
Coal Minister assured that if need be more coal blocks will be allocated to CIL. The effort is to increase the indigenous coal production to bridge the demand-availability gap.
Coal India is planning to step up its production making the country self-reliant in coal to the extent possible and reduce the import dependency. The company is gearing itself to produce over 900 Million Tonnes (MTs) in becoming the largest contributor to the country’s 1 BT production target in FY 2024.
Concomitantly, to transport the large quantities of coal produced the company is also firming up its evacuation logistics by procuring its own rail wagons, switching over to mechanized means of coal transport and mechanized loading in first mile connectivity in 35 mines identified for the purpose each having production of capacity of upwards of 4 MTs and pursuing rail connectivity in the areas where greater quantities of production is expected.
In a multi-pronged approach the company is infusing new technologies, adopting global best practices, pressing for greater cost control and operational efficiency.