GMDC gears up to hike lignite output

State-run Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation has chalked out plans to hike lignite production, as the Tadkeshwar mines near Surat and the Surkha mines in Bhavnagar, with huge reserves of lignite, are ready to be used for lignite mining.

According to the plan, while Tadkeshwar mines will cater to the lignite requirements of south Gujarat industries, the Surkha mines will cater to the requirements of Saurashtra. And the Panandhro mines will feed GMDC's proposed lignite based power project at Akarimota along with Gujarat Electricity's lignite based power plant.

Having mined out 52.3 lakh metric tonne of lignite in the 2003-04 fiscal, GMDC aims at increasing lignite output to at least 60 lakh metric tonne in the present fiscal, said Sudha Anchlia, chairperson and managing director of Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.

She added that going by the first quarter results in terms of lignite mined out and sales, the Corporation can easily achieve the targets set for the current fiscal year. In the first quarter of the present fiscal, 15.75 lakh metric tonne of lignite was mined out compared with 12.44 lakh metric tonne in the same period of the previous fiscal.

"The sales revenue too has risen by 30 per cent in the first quarter of the present fiscal, compared with the same period last year," she said. "With 400 lakh metric tonne of lignite reserves in Tadkeshwar and a 10 lakh metric tonne mining capacity, Tadkeshwar will cater to the requirements of south Gujarat. We are in the process of obtaining clearances for both the Tadkeshwar as well as Surkha mines from the authorities," said the GMDC chairperson.

She also stated that satellite photography and other projects are also on to identify prospective lignite sites.

During the 2003-04 fiscal, the Panandhro mines in Kutch produced 49.02 lakh metric tonne of lignite, fetching GMDC a revenue of Rs 228.05 crore.

The output of Rajpardi mines in Bharuch district produced 3.16 lakh metric tonne of lignite, getting sales of Rs 27.23 crore. The Mata No Madh mines in Kutch, where mining began in last year, produced 0.2 lakh metric tonne of lignite, with a sales realisation of Rs 1.01 crore.

Asked about the possible divestment of GMDC, as it is one of the corporations identified by the state government that will be reviewed by a committee on divestment, the GMDC chairperson said - "That is a government decision. The GMDC will abide by whatever the government decides on this issue. After all, we are a state government corporation and the government at present holds 74 per cent stake in the corporation."