The Coal Ministry has accepted the suggestions of the Chhattisgarh government to remove 5 mines that were being auctioned for commercial mining.

The mines will be replaced with 3 new mines. At present, 9 mines have been put for commercial auction in the state, an official statement said.

The statement was issued after a meeting between Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur.

“During the meeting with the Chief Minister, it was decided to get a proposal by a committee comprising CIL, Chhattisgarh government and MAHAGENCO officials in 15 days for shifting of a railway line of Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL). A proposal in a month will also be submitted by CMPDI and officials of Chhattisgarh government for using mined out lands for dumping fly ash. The State will form a nodal agency to ensure supply of coal to the retail consumers of coal. Discussions were made to contain petty crimes related to coal in the State,” the statement said.

Joshi also reviewed the performance of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL). Stressing upon the importance of coal mining for Chhattisgarh he said the State has the largest coal mine in Asia and it plays crucial role in fulfilling the power demands of country.

SECL’s holding company, Coal India Ltd (CIL) has planned ₹26,000-crore capex for developing infrastructures across Chhattisgarh in the next 4 years, the statement said.

Highlighting the efforts of government in building new infrastructure for rapid & smooth coal evacuation, Joshi said that Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd (CERL), a joint venture of SECL, IRCON & CSIDC is developing a rail corridor. CERL has incurred a capex of more than ₹2,000 crore till now.

The CERL rail corridor is meant for meeting the logistic challenges foreseen on account of coal evacuation to meet the growing coal needs of the country and providing the region with passenger train connectivity. This corridor has a total length of 193 kilometre and is being developed in two phases. The Phase I is from Kharsia to Dharamjayagarh with a route length of 131 kilometres while the Phase II with route length of 62 km will further join Dharamjayagarh with Korba with a spur upto Gare-Plama Block of Coal Mines.

In the Phase I, 43-km long section from Kharsia to Korichapar has already been commissioned for goods traffic.

comment COMMENT NOW