Coal India allocated 116 coal blocks for expansion

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been allocated 116 mines by the government to help boost its production capacity even as the PSU draws flak for coal shortages across the country.

The development comes at a time when the government has identified 54 coal blocks to be allocated to various sectors including power, steel and cement through auction route.

"The Coal Ministry allotted 116 mines to CIL almost a month back for its future plan expansion," a source close to the development said.

The source, however, added that CIL had asked for 138 mines. "But, the Coal Ministry directed the PSU firm to recast its plans," he added.

Asked whether the government could allocate the mines to CIL when the government is considering allocation through auction, a ministry official familiar with the development said: "Since Coal India is a government-owned company, the Coal Ministry under government dispensation route has the right to allocate mines to CIL."

The world's largest coal producer, CIL has identified 142 new projects, including 107 open cast and 35 underground mining schemes with an ultimate capacity of 380.22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), and a part of it is likely to be added during the next plan.

Earlier, CIL had said it wanted to take production capacity to 556 million tonnes (MT) by 2016-17. In 2011-12, it had recorded production of 435.8 MT.

CIL had also said it was in the process of earmarking about Rs 30,000 crore for capacity expansion during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) period.

The funds, the company had said, will be spent on new mining projects, as well as for building washeries and buying new machinery and equipment.

CIL is in the process of setting up 20 new coal washeries with a combined capacity of 111.1 MT and is also upgrading its machinery.

At present, CIL operates 17 coal washeries, of which 11 are coking coal and the remaining are non-coking coal washeries, with a total capacity of 39.40 MTPA.

Meanwhile, it is also awaiting clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for 168 projects.

"Our 168 projects that include ongoing schemes too are awaiting various environment and forestry clearances and are pending for long," the company had said.

Non-clearance for these projects has hampered production to the tune of 200 MT per annum, it said.

With PTI inputs