Contributing towards the upscaling of coal production, state-owned Nalco has announced to operationalize Odisha’s Utkal D coal mine by FY2022-23. On the other hand, Private entities in the state have already started their operations. In Talabira, Adani Group has been developing coal mine owned by NLC, while Vedanta is developing the Kuraloi-A coal mine in Odisha.
State-owned National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has announced that it is working to operationalize Utal D coal mine by the next financial year in Odisha. Additionally, after getting all the statutory clearances, the state’s Utkal E coal block will also be operationalized. On the other side, private players in the state are already operationalizing their coal mines. Adani Talabira is managing the coal mine owned by NLC, while Vedanta is also working to develop Kuraloi-A coal mine in Odisha.
Mining lease of Odisha’s Utkal D coal block was carried out by Nalco on March 25th this year after obtaining requisite regulatory clearances and completing land acquisition. Nalco is a navratna CPSE under Ministry of Mines and has integrated and diversified operations in mining, metal and power.
As per the company’s official statement, “All our efforts are being made for operationalization of Utkal D Coal Block in FY 2022-23 and Utkal E will be operationalized after obtaining all the statutory clearances thereafter. The appointment of mine developer and operator (MDO) and finalisation of rehabilitation and resettlement of project displaced persons is underway”.
The activities for development of railway siding construction are under progress. The permission for mine opening was granted by Coal Controller, the statistical authority in the month of May. As a part of raw material security, the central government allocated these two coal blocks to the existing operational units at captive power plant. Allocation of coal block and operationalizing them will play a crucial role in getting the maximum output and meeting the increased power demands.
Contemplating the coal richness of the state, private players are also welcomed and they are jubilantly participating in auctions and managing coal mines.
During the reverse auction, for developing the coal mines owned by the NLC in Talabira, the Adani Group’s subsidiary won the tender. Revenue of Rs 12,200 crores is likely to be generated once the block is developed by Adani Talabira.
The Kuraloi (A) north coal mine which was awarded to Vedanta has a peak capacity of eight million tonnes per annum. It is estimated to generate a revenue of Rs 763 crores. A subsidiary of the state-owned CIL, MCL announced to infuse around Rs 31,000 crores by 2023-24 for mining and social infrastructure development in Odisha.
In the last few years, considering the increased power demand and the need to reduce environmental effects of coal, investments are made for better technology in mining and related sectors. As of now, out of 38 coal mines, 20 have already been auctioned in the first tranche of commercial mining. However, going forward to meet the objective of self-reliant India, 67 coal mines have been offered for sale in the second tranche.
