Nagpur: The Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday lamented that despite abundant availability of coal in the country, India has to import the coal. Any project in the country gets delayed for 4-5 years due to the permission required from land acquisition and Forest Department. The Coal Ministry and Coal India Ltd should avoid the present delay in obtaining land and approval from other departments for starting of new coal mines, said the Minister.
Gakari was speaking virtually at the inauguration of Dhoptal Opencast Mine in Chandrapur district.
The Union Minister further said that the new mine would increase the availability of coal in power plants. He emphasised on the quality of coal and the need of more technological interventions for it.
The function was also attended virtually by Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for State Raosaheb Danve, State Minister Vijay Wadettiwar, Guardian Minister Sandipan Bhumre, former Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, MP Balu Dhanorkar and others.
The Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said that scaling up domestic coal production must be the priority for all subsidiaries of CIL to ensure continuous supply of coal, especially during the up-coming monsoon season. The Minister disclosed that with an estimated capital investment of Rs.12,500 crore, 35 First Mile Connectivity (FMC) projects will be completed on priority basis. Joshi stated that Ministry of Coal is giving utmost priority to coal gasification projects and efforts are underway to bring in private firms and latest technology for coal gasification with focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The combined investment of two projects initiated today comes to Rs 1190 crore. Dhoptala Opencast Mine of Ballarpur Area will have a capacity of 2.50 Million Ton coal per year and involves a cost of Rs.720. 87 crore. The open cast mine having a reserve of 53.11 MT coal will be providing 795 employment opportunities directly and the land area requirement for the project comes to 1257.46 Ha.
The first mile connectivity project of Wani Area will have capacity of eight million ton per year and involves investment of Rs. 471 crore for different segments of it. Some of the advantages of this particular project includes average reduction in coal road transportation by over 12 km, substantial reduction in carbon & CO2 emission and diesel consumption over conventional loading by tipper/pay loader.
