The Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Pralhad Joshi has said that the Government is undertaking measures to ramp up the domestic coal production from the current level of 730 MnT to 1149 MnT by 2023 thereby eliminating the coal import except for the limited un-substitutable import.
He was addressing the 7th Round table conference on Coal held in New Delhi yesterday.
The coal minister opined that despite the push for renewable energy, the country will require base load capacity of coal-based generation for stability. Currently coal occupies 55% share in primary energy supply and about 75% in electricity generation.
It may also be noted that power plants designed to run on imported coal have to resort to imports in order to continue their operation.
Mr. Joshi emphasized that the Government is opening new mines, expanding the capacity of existing mines and creating new evacuation infrastructure to ramp up the domestic coal production. Also highlighting that CIL alone is poised to commission 11 new coking coal washeries in a phased manner to meet the total demand of washed domestic coking coal of steel sector.
Outlining the initiatives that the government has taken, such as, easing of mine plan approval, doing away with system of previous approval for grant of mining lease, streamlining the grant of permits and clearances, greater coordination with state in matters relating to land acquisition, creation of sufficient coal evacuation infrastructure etc., honorable minister expressed confidence in boosting the domestic availability of coal in years to come.
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