Singareni Collieries to outsource exploration in three coal blocks

State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is planning to outsource exploration activity to establish new coal reserves in the Godavari Valley Coal Fields (GVCF) as part of its efforts to increase the coal production to 45 million tonnes a year from the present 36 million tonnes.

According to SCCL officials, the company has offered three coal blocks for exploration with a target of drilling 1.6 lakh metres using the latest technologies.

"Currently, our exploration division is handling the drilling activity up to 200-250 metres a month. Under outsourcing, the company aims to achieve 800-1,200 metres of drilling to establish coal reserves in three coal blocks," a senior executive of the company told Business Standard.

The outsourcing plans are expected to take off this year as the company has already received a good response to the expression of interest (EoI) invited from the interested firms. Of the EoIs received, four firms have been technically qualified, according to the official.

SCCL has drawn up plans to undertake a total of 15 lakh metres of optimum drilling to establish nearly 3,000 million tonnes of coal reserves.

The Pranahita-Godavari basin is one of the principal coal bearing areas in the Gondwana region in the country extending over a length of 470 km.

The south-eastern sector, referred to as GVCF, is about 350 km in length, covering about 17,000 square km located in Andhra Pradesh, falling in Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam and West Godavari districts.

The coal of GVCF is of non-coking, low to medium rank and high volatile matter.

In the SCCL command area, about 49.01 per cent of geological reserves have been brought to the 'proved' category as compared with the national level status of 37.51 per cent.

The company has completed a total of 20.49 lakh metres of drilling in 11,259 boreholes covering an area of 544 square km under a detailed exploration.

According to the information provided by SCCL, the company is trying to add about 200 million tonnes of coal reserves to the 'proved' category every year with the cumulative 'proved' reserves of GVCF amounting to 8,575 million tonnes by March 31, 2006.

With new initiatives, the pace of proving reserves is expected to touch 300 million tonnes from the current level of 150 million tonnes.

Currently, SCCL operates 11 opencast and 47 underground mines with a manpower of about 86,000.