Lok Sabha Question No. 2111 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-10
Subject: Deployment of Surface Miners by CIL
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: GEETHA KOTHAPALLI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2111 TO BE ANSWERED ON  10.03.2016

Deployment of Surface Miners by CIL

## 2111.  SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA:

Will the MINISTER OF COAL be pleased to state :

- (a) Whether the surface miners are proposed to be deployed  by Coal India Limited(CIL) for selective mining at some of the opencast mines;
- (b)  If so, the details thereof and reasons therefor;
- (c)  Whether efforts are also being made to iron out the differences over third party sampling and if so, the details thereof and result yielded therefrom;
- (d)  Whether any decision has been taken with regard to standard operating procedure for third party sampling of coal at the mine end; and
- (e)  If so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF COAL, POWER AND NEW AND RENEWABLEE ENERGY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a)&(  b): Surface  Miners  have  been  deployed  for  selective  mining  and  for  ensuring  size  & quality of coal. Use of surface miner also eliminate blasting of coal thus improving safety and environmental conditions.

Total  raw  coal  production  from  Open  Cast  mines  and  percentage    of  Open  Cast production by Surface Miners from the mines of Coal India Ltd (CIL) during last three years and the current year is given below:

| Year                                 |   Total Open cast production (Million Tones) |   Production by Surface Miners (Million Tones) |   % of Open Cast Production from Surface Miner |
|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 2015-16(up to December (Provisional) |                                      348.664 |                                        167.375 |                                          48    |
| 2014-15                              |                                      459.196 |                                        197.909 |                                          43.09 |
| 2013-14                              |                                      426.309 |                                        170.819 |                                          40.06 |
| 2012-13                              |                                      414.435 |                                        155.801 |                                          37.59 |

(c)to(e): To address the issues of dispute between coal companies and Power Utilities/developers and  to  bring  about  improvement  in  the  quality  of  coal  supply,  the  system  of  Third  Party Sampling has been further improved. As per revised instructions on Third Party Sampling issued by Ministry of Coal on 26.11.2015,  Independent Third Party Agencies are to be empaneled by Central Institute for Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) for taking samples  at the loading end on behalf of both the power plant (consumers - including PSU power plants and private power plants)  and  the  coal  companies  (supplier).  Enlisting  of    third  party  agencies,  for  work  of sampling and analysis of coal, is being done through a transparent process.

Under  the  procedure,  the  authorized  representatives  of  power  plant  and  coal  company have  to    jointly  witness  the  process  of  sample  collection  and  preparation  of  the  laboratory samples.  The  samples  are  to  be  collected  and  prepared  by  the  third  party  agency/independent sampler  as  per  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards  (BIS)  norms.  The  fee  for  independent  sampling agency is borne by both the coal company (supplier) and the power utility (consumer) in equal measure. The Third Party Agency has to  communicate the Analysis Results of the sample within 18 (eighteen) working days of the sample collection to the coal company and the power plant. The procedure also prescribes that  coal company or the power plant may raise dispute, if any, within 07 (seven) days of the submission of the result by the Third Party. Analysis of referee samples has to be taken up in a government laboratoryin case of disputes areraised within the stipulated time period.

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