Within days of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 50,000 crore investments in coal infrastructure as part of the economic stimulus, Central Coalfields Ltd has become the first mining firm to propose Rs 1,200 crore projects for the automation of coal handling operations in four of its largest mines.
The projects will cover some 55 million tons of coal produced by Amrapali, Uri-Mari, Magadh and Piparwar / Ashoka mines in Jharkhand. Automation of coal from mines to rail siding and loading of rakes would result in environmental benefits by stopping air and land pollution from coal dust generated during transport by trucks.
The projects envisage the construction of conveyor belts for the transport of coal from mines to railway sidings and coal handling plants for the loading of wagons. The completion of the programs will take 30 months. Automation of ‘first-mile’ connectivity and loading was part of the NDA-2 government’s 100-day program.
Source said a comprehensive list of Coal India Ltd ‘s coal transport and handling projects is being prepared and an announcement is expected in the next few days.
The Magadh Automation Project, which produces 20 million tons of coal, is estimated to have a value of Rs 600 crore. It’s set to be tendered out in the next few days. The Amrapali plant, with a capacity of 18 million tons, would cost Rs 316 crore. Uri-Mari will require an investment of Rs 290 crore and Piparwar / Ashoka Rs 9 crore to handle 7.5 million tons of production. Tenders for both of these have been released.
On Saturday, Sitharaman announced several measures for the coal industry, including an end to the monopoly of Coal India by enabling private companies to mine and sell coal without any end-use restrictions, to ensure sufficient supply and to minimize imports. Around the same time, it also announced an investment programme to boost coal handling and transport facilities.
