Lok Sabha Question No. 2106 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Domestic Production of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Veena Devi, Feroze Varun Gandhi, Anil Firojiya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2106

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2023

## Domestic Production of coal

## †2106. SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI: SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI: SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA:

## Will the Minister of Coal be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps to increase the domestic production of  Coal  and  reduce  the  import  of  coal,  if  so,  the  details  thereof,  percentage-wise during the last nine years;
- (b) the details of total number of proposals invited for research and development in the coal sector;
- (c)  the  details  of  the  coal  mines  closed/likely  to  be  closed  after  completion  of extraction work during the last three years;
- (d) whether the Government has taken any steps to explore new areas for mining and if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  encourage  development  of  large-scale operations into independent entities or companies devoid of end usage instead of creating subsidiaries to sell in the open market, if so, the details thereof;
- (f) whether the Government is planning to revise the coal grades pricing mechanism from grades based on coal mine to grade based on coal desired for end use; and
- (g) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a): The Government has taken several steps to increase the domestic production of Coal and reduce the import of coal. The focus of the Government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and to eliminate non-essential import of coal in the country. Most of the requirement of coal in the country is met through indigenous production/supply.  In the year 2022-23, coal production increased by 14.77% over the  previous  year.  During  the current  year  till  June'  2023,  domestic  coal production has increased over 8.51% compared to the same period of last year.

The steps taken by the Government to increase the domestic production of coal are as under:

- i. Regular reviews by Ministry of Coal to expedite the development of coal blocks.
- ii. Enactment of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 for enabling captive mines owners (other than atomic minerals) to sell up  to  50%  of  their  annual  mineral  (including  coal)  production  in  the  open market after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government on payment of such additional amount.
- iii. Single Window  Clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalization of coal mines.
- iv. Project  Monitoring  Unit  for  hand-holding  of  coal  block  allottees  for  obtaining various approvals / clearances for early operationalization of coal mines.
- v. Auction of commercial mining on revenue sharing basis launched in 2020. Under commercial mining scheme, rebate of 50 % on final offer would be allowed for the quantity of coal produced earlier than scheduled date of production. Also, incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction (rebate of 50 % on final offer) have been granted.
- vi. Coal India Limited (CIL) is adopting Mass Production Technologies (MPT) in its Underground (UG) mines, mainly Continuous Miners (CMs), wherever feasible.  Coal  India  Limited  has  also  envisaged  working  large  numbers  of Highwalls (HW) mines in view of the availability of Abandoned / Discontinued mines. Coal India Limited is also planning large capacity UG mines wherever feasible.
- vii. In its Opencast (OC) mines, CIL already has State-of-the-Art technology in its high capacity Excavators, Dumpers and Surface Miners. Digitization is being tried on pilot scale in 7 of its mega mines and shall be replicated further.
- viii. SCCL has planned to produce 75 MT by 2023-24 from the present level of 67 MT. Regular liasioning is being undertaken for grounding of new projects. In addition, progress of activities of new projects and operations of existing projects is being regularly monitored.

## Measures taken by the Government to substitute coal imports:

- i. The ACQ has been increased upto 100% of the normative requirement, in the cases where the ACQ was either reduced to 90% of normative requirement (noncoastal) or where the ACQ was reduced to 70% of normative requirement (coastal power plants). Increase in the ACQ would result in more domestic coal supplies, thereby, reducing the import dependency.
- ii. Under the provisions of Para B (viii) (a) of SHAKTI Policy, coal linkage is provided for short term for sale of power generated through that linkage in Day Ahead Market (DAM) through Power Exchanges or in short term through a transparent bidding process through DEEP portal. In addition, with the amendment to the NRS  linkage  auction  policy  introduced  in  2020,  the  tenure  of  coking  coal linkages in the NRS linkage auction has been revised for a period upto 30 years. The coal offered for short term to the Power Plants under the amended provisions of SHAKTI Policy as well as increase in the tenure of the coking coal linkages in the Non-Regulated Sector linkage auction for a period upto 30 years is expected to have a positive impact towards coal imports substitution.
- iii. Government has decided in 2022 that the coal to meet the full PPA requirement of all the existing linkage holders of Power Sector shall be made available by the coal  companies.  The  decision  of  the  Government  of  meeting  the  full  PPA requirement  of  the  linkage  holders  of  the  Power  Sector  shall  reduce  the dependence on the imports.
- iv. An Inter - Ministerial Committee (IMC) has been constituted in the Ministry of Coal  on  29.05.2020  for  the  purpose  of  coal  import  substitution.  The Representatives  from  Ministry  of  Power,  Ministry  of  Railways,  Ministry  of Shipping, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises  (MSME),  Department  for  Promotion  of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Coal Companies and Ports are members of this IMC. Nine meetings of the IMC have been held so far. On the directions of the IMC, an Import Data System has been developed by Ministry of  Coal to enable the Ministry to track the imports of coal. Efforts are taken to ensure more domestic supplies of coal.

The details of domestic coal production during last nine years is given below:-

## (in Million Tonnes)

| YEAR           |   Production of Coal |
|----------------|----------------------|
| 2013-14        |              565.765 |
| 2014-15        |              609.179 |
| 2015-16        |              639.23  |
| 2016-17        |              657.868 |
| 2017-18        |              675.4   |
| 2018-19        |              728.718 |
| 2019-20        |              730.874 |
| 2020-21        |              716.083 |
| 2021-22        |              778.21  |
| 2022-23(Prov.) |              893.19  |

Major leap in coal production over the years has been witnessed. The all India Coal Production in the year 2022-23 stood at 893.19 Million Tonne (MT) in comparison to 565.77 MT in the year 2013-14 with a growth of about 58%.

As per the current import policy, coal is kept under Open General License (OGL) and consumers  are  free  to  import  coal  from  the  source  of  their  choice  as  per  their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty.

## (b): (i) Details of research proposals for R&D funding of CIL received during last four years are given:

| Year                |   No. of R&D proposal received |   No. of R&D proposals found appropriate and approved |   Total values of approved proposals. (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 2020-21             |                             42 |                                                    09 |                                                19.01 |
| 2021-22             |                             23 |                                                    10 |                                                41.74 |
| 2022-23             |                             27 |                                                    04 |                                                58.1  |
| 2023-24 (till date) |                             20 |                                                    01 |                                                17.7  |

## (ii) Details of research proposals for S&T funding of Ministry of Coal received during last four years are given:

| Year                |   No. of S&T proposal received |   No. of S&T proposals found appropriate and approved |   Total values of approved proposals. (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 2020-21             |                             34 |                                                    05 |                                                11.73 |
| 2021-22             |                             19 |                                                    02 |                                                 2.44 |
| 2022-23             |                             38 |                                                    09 |                                                11.41 |
| 2023-24 (till date) |                             50 |                                                    05 |                                                10.96 |

(c): The  details  of  CIL  coal  mines  abandoned/closed/discontinued during the last three years, is given below:

| CIL Subsidiary   | Name of Mines                   |
|------------------|---------------------------------|
| ECL              | Kalipahari OC Patch A New Kenda |
| BCCL             | Bera                            |

|      | Damagoria            |
|------|----------------------|
|      | Kenduadih            |
|      | KB 10/12 Pits        |
|      | Salanpur             |
|      | Bhowrah (N)          |
| WCL  | Shobhapur            |
| WCL  | Ghorawari/Jharna     |
| WCL  | Barkuhi OC           |
| WCL  | Bharat (Ghorawari-2) |
| SECL | Pinoura              |
| SECL | Mahamaya             |
| SECL | Bishrampur           |
| SECL | Mahan                |
| SECL | Mahan-II             |
| SECL | Katkona 3 & 4        |
| MCL  | Orient-3             |
| NEC  | Tipong               |
| NEC  | Tirap                |

The coal mines likely to be closed by Coal CIL after completion of coal extraction work are as under:

| CIL Subsidiary   | Name of Mines                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WCL              | New Sethiya Scheme OC, Mohan Scheme Ph-IV OC, Mathani UG, Chhattarpur II UG, New Majri Sec I & II A OC, Penganga OC, Kolgaon RPR OC, Junad Extn OC, Umrer OC, Ballarpur OC, Chhinda Scheme OC (11 mines) |
| SECL             | North Chirimiri UG, Malga UG, Pinoura UG (3 mines)                                                                                                                                                       |
| NCL              | Kakri OCM                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| MCL              | Basundhara (West) Expansion OCP                                                                                                                                                                          |
| CCL              | Dakra OC                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

Closed coal mines of SCCL due to exhaustion of reserves / conversion to OC mines for the last three years are as below:

| Nameof Mines   |
|----------------|
| RK-8 Incline   |
| VK-7 Incline   |
| JVROC          |
| GDK7LEP        |
| BPAOCII        |
| MedipalliOC    |

List of the mines proposed to be closed by SCCL in the current year & next three years:

| KK1 Inc.   |
|------------|
| RK1A Inc.  |
| GK OCP     |
| JK5OC      |
| RKPOC      |

| RK-NT                 |
|-----------------------|
| RK-6 Inc.             |
| SRP-1 INC             |
| MNG OC                |
| RG OC-1 Expn. & Ph-II |

(d): Finding  new  areas  for  mining  coal  and  lignite  through  exploration  is  a continuous process. There is one sub-scheme i.e. Promotional (Regional) exploration continuing through Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Coal for exploration of new areas of coal & lignite. In addition to this Geological Survey of India (GSI) also carries out investigation of minerals including coal. (e): Presently no proposal is under consideration to encourage development of largescale operations into independent entities or companies devoid of end usage instead of creating subsidiary to sell in the open market. Currently, coal pricing is done on the basis of grades of coal. There is no

(f) & (g): proposal for pricing mechanism for coal grades based on coal desired for end use.

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