In order to boost the coal supplies to the 3000 MW NTPC Kaniha, the second largest power pant in the country, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has deployed a departmental surface miner at the NTPC-linked Lingaraj mines at a cost of Rs six crore.
The machine procured by MCL was inaugurated by Sriramji Upadhyaya, chairman and managing director of MCL in the presence of the chairman cum managing directors of three other coal companies- Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) and Eastern Coalfields limited (ECL).
The environment friendly surface miner cuts coal to the required size of the power plants like NTPC, said PM Prasad, general manager of Lingaraj mines.
The surface miner has the capacity to produce 14,000-15,000 tonnes of coal per day but we will start with a production of 10,000 tonnes per day, he added.
The coal produced by this surface miner will not go to the coal handling plant for crushing.
MCL had so far engaged contractors who used surface miners for producing coal in its different mines including the Lingaraj mines.
This is the second instance of the coal company using its departmental surface miner at Lingaraj coal mines after it introduced departmental surface miner at the Laxamanpur open cast coal mines a few days back.
The departmental surface miners would be used by MCL in two other mines- Hingula mines at the Talcher coalfields and Belpahad coal mines at the Ib valley coalfields.
These surface miners would boost coal production in the mines, thereby helping in better coal supply to the key power plants, said Upadhyaya.
