The expert appraisal committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has deferred issuance of terms of reference for environmental appraisal to the proposal of setting up a coal washery at Kistaram village in Khammam district for Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Simultaneously, the panel asked for an amendment in the environmental clearance given for Jalagam Vengal Rao Opencast Project-II of SCCL in Mar’10.
The coal washery has been proposed by Global Coal & Mining Pvt. Ltd. on build, own and operate (BOO) basis for cleaning the coal of SCCL.
According to the company representatives, raw coal of 3.32 to 4 MTPA would be supplied by SCCL for washing for a period of 15 years. It is stated that the washery to be established with an estimated cost of INR 100 crore would generate employment for 56 persons during construction stage and 400 persons during operational stage.
Reportedly, SCCL aims to achieve 68 MnT of coal production during the current fiscal against 62 MnT during the last year. Further, it plans to enhance coal production to 100 million tonnes by 2022.
Accordingly, the public sector coal company has its focus on value addition by improving the quality of coal produced and/or mined by setting up new washeries as the demand for such processed coal is rising, particularly from power and cement industries.
Currently, the company has three washery units at Manuguru, Mandamarri and Ramagundam-II mine areas with one million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity each.
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