India plans to enhance coal production

NEW DELHI, April 30 (UPI) -- State-run Coal India Ltd. has identified 16 open-cast mines to enhance coal production, the government said Wednesday.

Junior Coal Minister Santosh Bagrodia, while responding to recommendations of a parliamentary standing committee attached to his department, told Parliament that CIL has under its emergency coal-production plan identified 16 open-cast mines in which production from the existing mines will be enhanced to a higher level, yielding additional 71.3 million tons.

He said 181 coal blocks have been allotted to different consumers to be operated by private or government-controlled companies for captive and commercial mining.

He said in a bid to reduce the gap between coal demand and supply, the current five-year plan envisages 118 CIL mining projects and 25 mining projects of the Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd.

He, however, rejected the recommendation of the standing committee that asked the government to put in place a single window-clearance system for the approval of projects in the coal sector, saying it may not be feasible.