The National Aluminium Company (NALCO), the Navratna CPSE, and a producer of alumina and aluminium, has been granted the mining lease of Utkal-E coal block.
The lease has been granted by the Department of Steel & Mines, government of Odisha, through a notification issued on 12 April 2021.
As per the notification, the mining lease of Utkal-E coal block is over an area of 523.73 ha in villages Nandichhod, Gopinathpur Jungle, Kundajhari Jungle, Kosala and Korada under Chendipada tahasil of Angul district.
The initial capacity of Utkal-E coal block is two million tpa with a total mineable reserve of approximately 70 million tonne.
NALCO has already executed the mining lease for Utkal-D coal block in March 2021. With the grant of Utkal-D and -E coal blocks, the total mineable coal reserve of the company will be 175 million tonne, which will be pivotal in meeting the coal requirement of its captive power plant at Angul.
NALCO team is expected to start the mining operation from Utkal-D coal block in FY22. Initially NALCO will be able to produce four million tonne coal per year from the operation of Utkal-D and -E coal blocks. The lease for Utkal-D and -E coal block has been granted to NALCO for a period of 30 years.