Govt plans 100 new mines to raise coal output by 500mn tonnes a year by 2029-30

New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal plans to open 100 new mines with a coal production capacity of 500 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by FY 2029-30, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

India has witnessed a big leap in overall coal production from 565.76 MT in FY 2013-14 to 997.82 MT in FY 2023-24 which represents a 76.4 per cent increase over the last 10 years, the Union Minister said.

Most of the requirement of coal in the country is now met through indigenous production and supply with the efforts being made by the government to achieve the Aatmanirbhar Bharat goal in the coal sector, he said.

The focus of the efforts made by the government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and to eliminate the non-essential import of coal in the country, G. Kishan Reddy added.

The Union Minister said that the robust increase in coal production had come about due to various measures taken by the Ministry of Coal such as regular reviews to expedite the development of coal blocks and introducing the Single Window Clearance portal to speed up the operationalisation of coal mines.

The Enactment of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 enables owners of captive mines to sell up to 50 per cent of their annual production in the open market after meeting the requirements of the end-use plant linked with the mine also helped to augment production.

Auction of commercial mining on a revenue-sharing basis was launched in 2020.

Under the commercial mining scheme, a rebate of 50 per cent on the final offer has been allowed for the quantity of coal produced earlier than the scheduled date of production.

Also, incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction (rebate of 50 per cent on final offer) have been granted, the minister said.

Terms and conditions of commercial coal mining were made liberal with no restriction on utilisation of coal, allowing new companies to participate in the bidding process, reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against monthly payment, liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalize the coal mines, transparent bidding process, 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route and revenue sharing model based on the National Coal Index, the Union Minister said.

Besides, the coking coal mission has been launched to enhance supply to the Steel Sector to reduce imports of coking coal. Initiatives have been taken to enhance coking coal production.

The Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) has been increased up to 100 per cent of the normative requirement, in the cases where the ACQ was either reduced to 90 per cent of the normative requirement (non-coastal) or where the ACQ was reduced to 70 per cent of the normative requirement (coastal power plants).

Increase in the ACQ would result in more domestic coal supplies, thereby reducing the import dependency, the minister said.