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The Ministry of Coal has
expressed concern over the
condition imposed by the
Ministry of Environment and
Forests for enhancing production
from existing coal mines without
additional manpower.
At a recent meeting with the
National Manufacturing Competitiveness
Council, coal ministry
officials stated that while the
environment ministry permitted
25 per cent additional production
without fresh clearances, it had
imposed a condition of no additional
machinery and manpower
which was not practical. If this
stipulation could be relaxed, there
could be a substantial increase in
productio, they asserted.
The ministry has been trying to
scale up production in the short
term through better monitoring.
In 2011-12, 680 million tonnes of
coal was targeted for production.
However, this was revised downwards
to 554 million tonnes in a
subsequent review. Against the
envisaged growth of 9.5 per cent
CAGR in coal production during
the 11th Plan, the actual growth in
production in the first four years
was only 5.4 per cent.
To make sure that the shortfall
between the target and actual production
is minimum possible, it
has been recently decided by the
Committee of Secretaries to
increase production of coal in a
few mines such as Kaniha,
Basundhara and Kulda in
Mahanadi Coalfields and Magadha
coalfield of Coal India Ltd. It
was brought out that the production
from these mines can be
increased subject to addressing
the evacuation constraints. The
coal ministry, along with the representatives
of other ministries,
has been trying to work out a definite
plan for quick evacuation of
coal from these mines.
The coal ministry has also been
following up with state level coordination
committees in Odisha,
Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to
look into issues of land acquisition,
rehabilitation and resettlement,
and forest and environment
clearances.
According to the ministry, in
case of a few mines, production
can be enhanced by up
to 25 per cent through deployment
of additional equipment
and manpower. However, it is
beyond the approved production
plan of the environment ministry.
The coal ministry has thus asked
the environment ministry to grant
approval without insisting on
fresh public hearing.
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