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What Impedes the Indian Coal Mining Industry And Corrective Actions That Can Define the Future

  • It is ironical that the third largest coal producing country in the world, holding the fifth largest reserves, is unable to meet even its domestic demand. ET finds out what impedes the Indian coal mining industry and corrective actions that can define the future Since the advent of commercial coal mining in the country that dates over two centuries back to 1774, the Indian 'coal' growth story has come a long way. From its initial days of producing 33 million tonnes (mt) of coal in the 1st five-year plan, India has today polevaulted into the league of big players by positioning itself as the third largest coal producing country in the world. Its hard coal production capacity is estimated to have touched 538 mt in 2010, though far behind China's mammoth 3,162 mt and USA's 932 mt.
  • The black diamond, as it is called, has been instrumental in driving many-a-industries - steel, cement, fertilizers and of course, power; 70% of coal produced in the country is used for power generation. And the company, virtually holding a monopoly in coal mining is the PSU giant Coal India which along with its subsidiaries , single-handedly produces 88% of the country's total coal, with 390 mines under its wings.

MINES AND MINING

  • Our country is endowed with some of the best coal-rich expanses of land - Talcher in Orissa, Singareni in Andhra Pradesh, Jharia in Jharkhand, Ranjganj in West Bengal, Singrauli and Umaria in Madhya Pradesh, Bilaspur in Chattisgarh, Dhanbad in Jharkhand and Chandrapur in Maharashtra. In fact, the four states of Chattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal together account for a whopping 80% of the coal reserves and resources in the country.
  • Coal reserves from these districts are discovered, extracted, developed and then sold in the market for commercial, industrial and domestic use. Since most of these deposits are found near the surface , coal mining is predominantly done in the form of open pit mining. Opencast or surface mining forms 80% of mining in India and Australia and 67% in USA and nearly 90% of the coal reserves can be recovered under this method. It involves use of high-end machineries and equipments like draglines, power shovels, large trucks, bucket wheel excavator sand conveyors.
  • The other process is to recover the coal deposits through underground mining, and it involves two techniques. As defined by World Coal Association, Room & Pillar Mining is a method by which coal deposits are mined by cutting a network of 'rooms' into the coal seam and leaving behind 'pillars' of coal to support the roof of the mine. Longwall Mining involves full extraction of coal from a section of the seam or 'face' using mechanical shearers.

CHALLENGES PLAGUING THE INDUSTRY

  • There are many hurdles that mar the prospects of the coal mining industry:
  • The coal found in the mines are often of inferior quality, characterized by high ash content, not suitable for the high-performing steel industry. This translates into dependence on imports from countries like Indonesia and Australia for high-quality coal. This has proved to be an expensive proposition and the government has spent almost $7,000 mn in importing coal in 2010-11 alone.

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