30 new coal projects to boost CIL output

Ranchi: The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) has identified 30 new coal mining projects that can add to the annual production capacity of Coal India Limited (CIL) by 100 million tonnes.
CMPDI chairman and managing director Shekhar Saran on Saturday said the project reports have been submitted to the CIL for evaluation.

Seven out of the 30 projects are in Jharkhand among which are the expansion of Chitra open cast coal mine in Godda under Eastern Coalfields Limited, the Lodna open cast mine in Dhanbad under Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Sirka mines in Ramgarh, Tetariakhar open cast project in Chatra and the new Konar open cast mine in Bokaro under the Central Coalfields Limited. The seven projects are expected to add up another 18 MT to the state’s cumulative annual coal production.

The mini ratna company, which primarily deals with mining exploration and research, recorded a 21% increase in its drilling from the 2016-17 FY.

“Drilling has achieved an all-time high of 13.6 lakh metre higher than its target of 12.50 lakh metre during the 2017-18FY. It is a 21% increase from 2016-17 fiscal where drilling was 11.50 lakh metre,” Saran said while listing out the PSU’s achievements for the 2017-18 fiscal.

The company on Saturday said that in addition to preparing 30 project reports, it had prepared 23 geological reports that established 5 billion tons of additional coal reserves across the country in proven category.

Listing out the company’s research and development accomplishments for the 2017-18 FY, Saran said CMPDI had joined hands with ISRO for a pilot project of monitoring air-quality of mining areas through the use of satellites. “Drones were successfully tested for several technical applications such as mapping of contours and mapping of stockpile volumes in Rajrappa and Topa coal projects,” Saran added.

Saran also added that the CMPDI is currently working on building a coal mines management and surveillance system for CIL for plugging coal pilferages through illegal mining with the help of satellite data and GPS technology.