Coal ministry plans China visit

As part of its endeavour to raise production from underground (UG) mine, the coal ministry has decided to enter into strategic and technical partnerships with mining units in China, one of world's largest producers of UG coal together with Australia, though the safety record of China's coal sector was one of the worst in the world.

India had ties with Australian mining companies.

Developing UG mines was discussed by the Indo-US joint working group too.

A 4-member delegation comprising members of the Task Force on Coal Mining (TFCM) would visit China in mid-November.

The delegation, including representatives of Coal India Limited (CIL) and coal ministry, would visit major UG mines.

Around 95 per cent of China's coal mines were UG ones, with capacities of between 5 million ton to 15mn.t., and suffered from poor safety record.

Indian UG mines had capacities of below 1 million tonne.

The major UG mines in China included Hanzhuang mine, Shouyang, Tunliu, Zhaozhuang, Xinjisan, Shoushanyi and Longgu.

China had formed large mining corporations, working on a global scale and using modern mining technology.

Districts had been set up to attract foreign investments and manage coal logistics, production to chemistry and management.

CIL, in the current year, aimed to raise UG production from 45mn.t. to 75mn.t..

UG coal production peaked at 65mn.t. in 1974-75 but then fell to 45mn.t. Most Indian coal reserves were in seams 300-1200 metres below the ground.

India had indicated coal reserves of 235 billion ton, of which 95 billion ton was proven and ideal for UG mining because of their depth. UG technology did not land acquisition that had paralysed open cast (OC) mine development.

One CIL official said, "Resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) programmes are standing in way of setting up OC mines. Huge lands will have to be used up shifting people if we are to reach the coal beds deep under the earth's surface." CIL preferred UG technology to augment production to avoid land problems.

Of the 470 mines in India, 295 were UG mines, 144 OC mines and 31 mixed mines, all under CIL.

The total number of mines under CIL, private and other operators was about 547 mines of which 354 were UG ones, 160 OC and 33 mixed. OC mines produced around 328mn.t. and UG mines 45mn.t..

CIL asked subsidiaries to develop UG mines with 2-5mn.t. capacity costing Rs 300 crore or so each. China's coal consumption was almost a quarter of the global total, projected at 1800mn.t. in 2010 and 2050-2200mn.t. in 2020. The Indian delegation to China would also focus on safety standards.

China had the most accident-prone mines, and over 400 people lost their lives in mine accidents in 2005-06. UG mines in India used old technology and were prone to accidents too.