India has registered a substantial increase in captive coal production with the emergence of new mines as the country step-up efforts to mitigate the supply-demand gap.
Coal production from captive sources was 18.43 million tonnes (mnt) in April-May, 2022, up 74% y-o-y from 10.6 mnt in April-May, 2021, as per latest data provided by Ministry of Coal (MoC).
In April, Jindal Power began mining operation at its Gare Palma IV/1 mine having geological reserve of around 160 mnt. The company acquired the mine in the first tranche of commercial mining auctions.
As per MoC, production from the mine stood 0.42 mnt in April which was particularly high compared to some of the mines that are currently in operation.
Interestingly, this is the second coal mine from the commercial mining auctions that has come online. Earlier, Sarda Energy and Mineral commenced operation at Gare Palma IV/7 mine last fiscal.
Continuing the momentum, output from captive mines grew 84% y-o-y to 10.54 mnt in May, 2022, thereby taking its share in overall production to 15% as against 11% recorded in May, 2021.
Preference for Gare Palma mines
The government has made a slow progress in raising allocation of coal mines via auction sales due to the subdued response shown by the stakeholders.
However, no such concern was seen for the array of Gare Palma (GP) mines which are spread across Mand Raigarh Coalfields in Chhattisgarh. These mines possess necessary clearance for mine opening; therefore, it attracted various end-user firms having captive coal requirement in the region.
Apart from Jindal Power and Sarda, Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Corporation is operating GP III mine, while Hindalco and Ambuja Cement are producing coal from GP IV/4 and GP IV/8 mines respectively. Besides, Jindal Power’s parent company-Jindal Steel and Power Ltd – has acquired GP IV/6 mine in the fourth tranche of auction.
Interest was also elicited for Utkal coal mines located in Odisha on similar grounds. Notably, Utkal B1/B2 and Utkal-C mines were allocated in the recent rounds of auctions.
Expediting the allotment process, the ministry has offered a total of 124 coal blocks in the upcoming tranches of auction in an attempt to improve domestic coal availability. That apart, the ministry is expecting 12 new mines with a combined peak rated capacity of 54.27 mnt to start production in FY 2022-23.
Leave a Reply