Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said that scaling up
domestic coal production must be the priority for all subsidiaries of CIL to ensure continuous
supply of coal, especially during the up-coming monsoon season. The Minister disclosed that
with an estimated capital investment of Rs.12,500 crore, 35 First Mile Connectivity (FMC)
projects will be completed on priority basis. Inaugurating two projects virtually of Dhoptala
Open Cast Mine and foundation stone laying for First Mile Connectivity project at Chandrapur in
Maharashtra under the Western Coalfields Ltd, Shri Joshi stated that Ministry of Coal is giving
utmost priority to coal gasification projects and efforts are underway to bring in private firms
and latest technology for coal gasification with focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The combined investment of two projects initiated today comes to Rs 1190 crore. Dhoptala
Opencast Mine of Ballarpur Area will have a capacity of 2.50 Million Ton coal per year and
involves a cost of Rs.720. 87 crore. The open cast mine having a reserve of 53.11 MT coal will
be providing 795 employment opportunity directly and the land area requirement for the project
comes to 1257.46 Ha.
The first mile connectivity project of Wani Area will have capacity of eight million ton per year
and involves investment of Rs.471 crore for different segments of it. Some of the advantages of
this particular projects includes; average reduction in coal road transportation by over 12km,
substantial reduction in carbon & CO2 emission and diesel consumption over conventional
loading by tipper/pay loader.
Joining the function, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari urged the
Coal Ministry and Coal India Ltd to avoid the present delay in obtaining land and approval from
other departments for starting of new coal mines.
Addressing the function Minister of State for Coal, Mines and Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve
called upon Coal India Ltd and Western Coalfields Ltd to attain the set targets of coal production
for this financial year and smooth supply to the power sector. Secretary, Ministry of Coal, CMD,
Coal India Ltd and CMD, Western Coalfields Ltd also addressed the function.