Coal ministry to soon notify blocks for commercial mining

Odisha govt has already asked to ministry to allocate Patrapada coal block with reserves of 1,042 mn tonnes to Odisha Mining Corp

The ministry of coal (MoC) has kicked off the process to allocate blocks for commercial mining by state PSUs, a top official said here today.

"The MoC has taken an in-principle decision to allocate coal blocks in favour of state PSUs for commercial mining. A notification to this effect would be issued in 15 days. States have to submit specific applications for commercial mining of coal", Coal secretary Anil Swarup said.

The state government has already written to the MoC to allocate the Patrapada coal block with reserves of 1,042 million tonnes to Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for commercial mining. Patrapada is one of the 10 Schedule I coal blocks listed by the Ministry of Coal for non-regulated sectors. The remaining coal blocks identified are Nuagaon-Telisahi, Talabira II, Utkal, Biatarani West, Mandakini B, Rampia and dip side Rampia, Ramchandi promotional coal block and North of Arkhapal and Srirampur coal block.

The state government argued that allocation of a commercial coal block to OMC would facilitate sale of coal to non-regulated sectors.

There are 56 captive power plants (CPPs) of iron & steel and aluminium industries in the state with installed capacity of more than 6,310 Mw.

Besides, the annual requirement of coal for sponge iron units alone excluding the CPPs is estimated to be at least 30 million tonne per annum. The coal requirement of these end use industries is only expected to increase in the coming years with their expansion and commencement of production by more units.

The Coal secretary took stock of the coal mine projects by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a Coal India subsidiary.

He identified land acquisition as the key bottleneck but expressed optimism that MCL would reach the envisaged coal production target of 250 million tonnes by 2025. The Odisha government wold have to play a key role in MCL meeting that output, he added.

"The MCL coal mine projects in the districts of Angul, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh have been first tracked and the government would provide all help and assistance for their operations", said state chief secretary Aditya Padhi.

The major MCL projects reviewed at the meeting included Ib valley washery, Jagannath washery, Lajkura open cast project (OCP), Basundhara washery, Jagannath OCP, Bhubaneswari OCP, Natraj underground Mine, Hingula OCP, Kaniha OCP, Ananta OCP, Siarmal OCP and Lingaraj OCP. Issues relating to rehabilitation, employment for land losers, forest clearance, shifting of land oustees and CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities figured in the talks.

The state government reiterated its demand for allocation of a suitable coal block to Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between OMC and Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC). OTPCL is setting up a 2400 Mw coal-fired power plant at an estimated cost of Rs 17,000 crore. The power station has been proposed at Kamakhyanagar in Dhekanal district. The Coal secretary assured to look into the state's demand.