Bhubaneswar: Bhola Nath Shukla, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) Monday announced that Coal India subsidiary would achieve coal production of 300 million tonnes per annum by FY 2026 with long-term planning and inclusion of new technologies for coal excavation and dispatch.
“We are into a long-term planning to ensure that mining operations remain smooth to register consistent growth. By FY 2025-26, we expect the company to achieve 300 million tonnes figure, with 200 million tonnes produced by Talcher coalfields alone,” Shukla said.
The company has taken major initiatives to enhance coal evacuation through infrastructure development, such as coal corridor and SILOs, among other things. The CMD said the focus would be on speedy enhancement of capacity of rail infrastructure, which would also help private players develop coal blocks and contribute to meeting growing energy demand of the nation.
The company is actively contributing to the District Mineral Fund (DMF). “The increase in coal production would directly benefit the growth of coal bearing districts by increasing contributions to the DMF. The company has contributed about Rs600 crore to DMF,” Shukla added. Cumulative, DMF contribution by MCL is about Rs 2,100 crore in the past four years.
The company is going ahead with environment-friendly initiatives such as pipe conveyors, coal washeries, SILOs, belt conveyor to ensure sustainable mining operations.
MCL, the second-largest coal producing subsidiary of Coal India, which had produced 144 million tonnes during financial year 2018-19, is targeting production of 160 million tonnes.
