WB may ask Centre to allow commercial mining in Asia's largest coal reserve

The coal mined from this block will be used first to supply captive coal to thermal power projects at Sagardighi, Santaldih, Bakreshwar and a project of Durgapur Power

West Bengal is considering to ask the Centre to allow commercial mining in the Deocha-Pachami coal block, which has been allotted to West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd for captive use.

The state’s finance minister Amit Mitra said that this block spread across nine square kilometres in the Birbhum district, is estimated to hold 2102 million tonne (mt) of “low sulphur and low ash” coal reserves making it the second largest coal block in the world and the largest in Asia.

Mitra, at the Indian Mining and Machinery Exhibition 2018, said, “A small proportion of coal mined from this block