State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Ltd will next month commence operations at the nation's largest underground mine, with annual capacity of 2.8 million tonne, a move that could help the PSU surpass its output target for the current fiscal.
The mine's operationalisation will come at a time when power stations in the country are starved of the dry fuel.
"The trail runs of Adriyala Shaft underground coal mine project in Karimnagar district of Telangana State are already on. The commercial operations at the project will begin next month," an official said on the conditions of anonymity.
The government had in August approved the revised estimates of the project, the official said. However, he did not provide the details.
The official said: "The state-of-the-art project has long-wall technology and long-wall sets installed."
SCCL's output is just about 10 per cent of what Coal India Ltd, the world's largest miner, produces.
Jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and Government of India on a 51:49 equity basis, SCCL provides coal to some of the leading power plants of the companies like NTPC's Ramagundam Super Thermal Power Plant.
SCCL, which produced 50.47 MT coal last fiscal may produce 55 MT of coal in the current fiscal year. Its target for FY'15 is 54.5 MT.
The official further said that the company will be able to produce about 1-1.5 MT this fiscal year from the new underground mine.
According to the Central Electricity Authority data, 47 thermal power stations across the country had critical coal stock of less than seven days as on September 23.
Coal India which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production, produced 175.88 MT of coal in the April-August period of the current fiscal, missing its target of 183.94 MT.
