New Delhi: The government today said it has decided to allot 11 mines to Coal India Ltd (CIL) which will add about 225 million tonnes (MT) to the state-owned firm’s annual production capacity by 2022.
CIL has a target to produce 1 billion tonne coal by March 2020, up from around 600 MT projected in the current fiscal.
“The government has decided to allot 11 coal mines to Coal India,” Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters here. Of the 11 mines, five are deallocated blocks and six are fresh mines, he said.
The company had requested the government to allot it additional coal mines to make all its subsidiaries 100 MT capacity units.
Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) do not have adequate reserves of the dry fuel at present.
“The allotment of these coal mines to CIL will make its arms 100 million tonnes plus coal producing subsidiaries,” Goyal said. Of the 11 mines, it has been decided to allot three to ECL and four each to BCCL and WCL.
A panel headed by former CVC Pratysuh Sinha to review coal blocks auction mechanism is likely to submit its report in six-eight months, said an official.
PTI