Page 2 - Coal Industry

Senior IAS officer Vikram Dev Dutt assumes charge as new coal secretary

Vikram Dev Dutt on Monday assumed the charge as the coal secretary. Dutt succeeds V L Kantha Rao who currently serves as the mines secretary. Dutt, a 1993-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre, earlier served as the Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the coal ministry said in a statement. Prior to Rao, Amrit Lal Meena served as the coal secretary. Meena was repatriated to his home cadre Bihar, where he was appointed as the chief secretary. Meena is a 1989-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved Meena's repatriation to his parent cadre on the request of the Bihar government, said a personnel ministry order dated August 30.

Road side dust, vehicular pollution reasons for pollution: Environmentalist

The issue has now become a political controversy with BJP and Congress attacking AAP over their irresponsibility over the issue

India extends operation of imported coal-based power plants: Circular

Mandate comes despite the country's coal fired power output falling for a second straight month in September on an annual basis due to slower growth in electricity usage and surge in solar generation

CIL's H1 FY25 contribution to govt exchequer falls slightly to Rs 28,930 cr

State-owned Coal India Ltd's contribution to the government exchequer dropped marginally by 0.6 per cent to Rs 28,930.27 crore in the first half of the ongoing fiscal over the year-ago period. Coal India Ltd (CIL), which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output, paid Rs 29,122.13 crore to the government exchequer in April-September period of FY24, according to provisional figures of the coal ministry. Total levies paid to the government in September also dropped by 11.1 per cent to Rs 4,335.24 crore from Rs 4,878.84 crore paid in the corresponding month of FY24. Of the total Rs 28,930.27 crore paid to the government exchequer in April-September FY25, maximum amount of Rs 6,452.30 crore went to the Jharkhand government, followed by Rs 6,383.14 crore to the Odisha government, Rs 5,432.02 crore to Chhattisgarh, Rs 5,177.41 crore to Madhya Pradesh, and Rs 2,782.25 crore to Maharashtra, among others. The coal-producing states earned the revenue from royalty, District ..

India coal-fired power output falls consecutively for 1st time since Covid

Heavy September rainfall in the west and north resulted in lower power demand, CRISIL, a unit of ratings agency S&P, said in a recent note

Foundation stone laid of Rs 732 cr coal handling projects in Jharkhand

The two plants will be an important step towards first-mile rail connectivity under which arrangements will be made to take the coal produced from the mines to the nearest railway circuit

Why India is still dependent on coal as UK shovels fossil fuel out

South Asian nation is shifting to clean energy but it is not phasing out the fossil fuel yet

Can protect Hasdeo while still meeting coal demands: Forest rights activist

The biodiversity-rich Hasdeo Aranya forests in Chhattisgarh -- where hundreds of tribals are protesting against tree felling for coal mining -- can be protected while still meeting India's coal demands, forest rights activist Alok Shukla has asserted. In an interview with PTI, Shukla, who received the Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the 'Green Nobel', this year, said claims that coal mining brings development, and rehabilitation improves people's lives are "misleading". He said when communities protest, it's often because corporations have broken their promises and taken away indigenous people's rights and livelihoods. "This has created massive distrust. No community wants to give up its land to greedy corporations, and the government must understand this," Shukla, who has been leading the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, a community campaign to save the pristine Hasdeo forests since 2012, said. According to central government data, India's coal demand is expected to reach .

Coal production from captive, blocks rises 32% to 79.72 mn MT in H1

The coal production from both captive and commercial coal blocks rose by 32 per cent to 79.72 Million Tonne (MT) in the April-September period of the ongoing fiscal. The coal output from both captive and commercial coal blocks was 60.52 MT in the first half of the previous fiscal. The coal dispatch rose by 34 per cent year-over-year, from 65.37 MT in H1 of FY'24 to 87.86 MT in H1 of FY'25. There has been "a significant rise in coal production and dispatch from both captive and commercial coal blocks during the first half of FY 2024-25, from April 1, 2024, to September 30, 2024, compared to the same period last year," the coal ministry said in a statement. The coal production in September rose by 32 per cent to 13.74 MT from 10.40 MT. Likewise, dispatch in the month of September has grown by 47 per cent year-over-year, from 9.68 MT in FY'24 to 14.27 MT in FY'25. The coal ministry said that it applauds the efforts of all stakeholders, including coal companies and industry partners,

CIL plans to monetise 4 old washeries, aimed at long term supply contract

State-owned Coa India Ltd is exploring options to monetise its four old washeries by leasing out those assets and plans to bundle lease contracts with long-term coal supply agreements. The move aims at optimising asset utilisation. "We are exploring the monetisation of four old washeries," Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a report. The company which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output is diversifying its portfolio by setting up a non-coking coal washery at Ib Valley, Lakhanpur in Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) -- one of the subsidiaries of CIL. The public sector enterprise commissioned the operation of Madhuband Washery having 5 million tonnes of annual capacity during 2023-24 to further enhance coking coal beneficiation capacity. The company is also setting up three new washeries in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) -- another arm of CIL -- with a total throughput capacity of seven million tonnes per annum. Besides, five coking coal washeries with a total capacity of 14

Coal India production drops marginally by 1% in Sep to 50.9 mn tonne

State-owned CIL's coal production dropped marginally by 1 per cent to 50.9 million tonnes (MT) in September. The coal behemoth, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output, produced 51.4 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a filing to the BSE. However, the PSU's coal output in the April-September period of the current fiscal year increased 2.5 per cent to 341.5 MT, over 332.9 MT in the year-ago period. The amount of coal supplied from the pitheads of Coal India dropped to 54.4 MT last month, over 55.2 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year. However, the coal offtake in the April-September period increased to 366.6 MT, over 360.6 MT in the corresponding period of previous fiscal year. Coal India's production rose 10 per cent to 773.6 million tonnes in 2023-24 but fell short of its production target of 780 MT for the fiscal year. CIL's production was 703.2 MT in the preceding 2022-23 fiscal .

UK, home to world's first coal power plant, to close its last unit today

The UK will close its last coal power plant on Monday, marking a significant milestone in energy use amid global calls for adopting green energy to thwart the irreversible threat of climate change

India needs more time for transition from coal in its energy mix: Experts

As the UK officially shut down its last remaining coal power plant on Monday, policy experts said coal will continue to be a part of India's energy mix for the next few decades, given that it is still a developing country with significant energy needs. The UK on Monday closed its last coal power plant, becoming the first G7 nation to do so amid calls for a global coal-free energy system by 2040. The world's first coal power plant opened in London in 1882, and until 2012, coal accounted for 39 per cent of the UK's electricity generation. Global energy think tank Ember said the closure of the UK's last coal plant means that more than a third of OECD countries are now coal-free, with three-quarters expected to eliminate coal power by 2030, in line with global climate goals aimed at limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) "Net Zero by 2050" report recommends that developed countries phase out unabated coal by 2030, while developing countries sho

Coal India arm BCCL books 2.40 million tonnes coking coal for steel sector

The government on Thursday said 2.40 million tonnes (MT) of coking coal have been booked of the 3.36 MT offered by Coal India arm Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) under auction mode for the steel sector for long-term linkages. Coking coal is a key raw material that is used to manufacture steel through the blast furnace route. "BCCL achieved record-breaking success in the recently concluded long-term linkage e-auction (tranche VII) for the steel sub-sector. Of the 3.36 MT of coking coal offered, 2.40 MT was successfully booked, setting a new benchmark in coal bookings," coal ministry said in a statement. BCCL CMD Samiran Dutta said efforts to make the auction process more inclusive and transparent have paid off significantly. The import of coking coal puts a burden on country's valuable foreign reserve, and to change this, BCCL has undertaken reforms to make its coking coal auction processes more flexible, transparent, and attractive for the country's steel producers, he said. The CIL

Coal imports rise marginally by 0.9% to 90.51 MT in Apr-Jul of FY25

There is a "critical need" for coal imports, and the country has reported a marginal rise of 0.9 per cent to 90.51 mt in the April-July period of FY25, according to an official statement. India, which has the fifth-largest coal reserves in the world, is also its second-largest consumer, driven by a rapidly growing economy, Ministry of Coal said on Wednesday. Coal production during the April-July FY25 period increased 9.56 per cent to 321.40 MT from 293.35 MT in FY24. "However, the current consumption landscape reveals a critical need for imports, particularly for coking coal and high-grade thermal coal, which are not sufficiently available within domestic reserves. This shortfall necessitates imports to support key industries, including steel," it said. According to the ministry, coal imports during April-July period of FY25 reported a marginal increase of 0.9 per cent, reaching 90.51 million tonnes (MT) level compared to 89.68 MT in the previous year. While the non-coking coal ..

Coal import rises 41% to 25.23 MT in July, demand to be buoyant: mjunction

India's coal import rose by 40.56 per cent to 25.23 million tonne (MT) in July, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce platform mjunction services. The country's coal import was 17.95 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal. Coal import also rose to 100.48 MT in the April-July period of the ongoing fiscal from 89.11 MT a year ago, it said. mjunction MD & CEO Vinaya Varma said the import demand is likely to be buoyant in coming weeks, ahead of the festive season next month. "Imports of non-coking coal showed an uptrend amid softening of prices in the seaborne market. There, however, was a drop in coking coal volumes due to tepid demand from the steel mills," mjunction services said. Of the total imports in July, non-coking coal's share stood at 16.52 MT, against 10.16 MT imported in the same month a year ago. Coking coal import volume was 4.81 MT against 5.03 MT in July last fiscal. During the April-July period, non-coking coal import was higher at 65.64 MT compared

India's coal output grows significantly, up 5.85% at 411.6 MT in FY25

The country's coal output grew 5.85 per cent to 411.62 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal year (up to September 12), over the year-ago period. This country's coal production was 388.86 MT during the same period last year. "This marks a significant increase... reflecting a commendable growth rate of 5.85 per cent, despite adverse climatic conditions that challenged mining operations," the coal ministry said in a statement. The figures are provisional. The production by state-owned Coal India Ltd rose to 311 MT during the same period, marking a growth of 2.80 per cent compared to 302.53 MT in the corresponding period of the previous year. This growth is even more notable given the interruptions in mining activities in CIL subsidiaries due to heavy rains, it said. Coal dispatch has also experienced a substantial uplift, reaching 442.24 MT during 2024-25 (up to September 12), compared to 421.29 MT in the same period last year, it said, adding that this reflects a robust growth

Govt asks coal block holders to start production in auctioned mines

The Centre on Thursday said that it has asked the coal block allottees to take necessary steps to put to production mines that were auctioned recently. The coal ministry on Wednesday reviewed the status of coal mines that were auctioned and are in different stages of process completion. "The 71 coal blocks are in various stages of obtaining regulatory clearances. These blocks are distributed across nine states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal," the Coal Ministry said in a statement. The meeting was chaired by Coal Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar. The comprehensive review focused on highlighting the government's commitment to ramp up domestic coal production. "This strategic review underscores the Ministry's proactive approach to addressing hurdles in coal blocks operationalisation in order to meet India's growing energy needs," the statement said. By focusing on these mines, the government aims to maximise

Coal supply to power sector falls 5.4% to 58.07 mn tonnes in August

Coal supply to the power sector in August dropped 5.4 per cent to 58.07 million tonnes (MT) as compared to the year-ago period, according to an official statement on Tuesday. The supply of coal to the power sector was 61.43 MT in August of the previous fiscal year. "In August 2024, the supply to the power sector was 58.07 MT, slightly lower than the 61.43 MT recorded in August 2023," the coal ministry said in a statement. Coal supply to the power sector remains a key priority, the ministry said. Between April and August this fiscal year, supply to the power sector reached 338.75 MT, registering a growth of 4.13 per cent over the 325.33 MT supplied during the year-ago period. In terms of coal supply across the country during the April to August 2024, it stood at 412.69 MT, with an increase of 5.17 per cent compared to 392.40 MT during the corresponding period of the last financial year. In August, however, coal supply fell slightly to 69.94 MT, compared to 75.19 MT in August of t

NLC India aims to start early mining of Odisha's Machhakata coal block

State-owned NLC India Ltd is aiming to start the mining of Machhakata coal block in Odisha ahead of schedule. Machhakata coal block is the second commercial coal block and the biggest among the NLCIL's mining projects. NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) had emerged as the successful bidder for Machhakata (Revised) coal block in Angul district of Odisha under the commercial coal block e-auction held in July. The Machhakata coal block, having reserves of 1.4 billion tonnes (BT), with average Grade of G10-G11, and capacity of 30 MTPA, is expected to be one among the top five biggest mines in the country, NLCIL said in a statement. "NLCIL aims to commence the mining ahead of schedule. This marks another milestone towards realising NLCIL's Corporate Plan 2030," the statement added. Machhakata Coal Block's vesting order was issued on Thursday. The company had earlier said that it is committed to its capacity addition in line with its vision of achieving more than 100 million tonnes per annum (MTPA)