The Government of India has launched one mobile app namely “KhananPrahari” and one web app Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System (CMSMS) for reporting unauthorized coal mining activities so that monitoring and taking suitable action on it can be done by concerned Law & Order enforcing authority. The CMSMS has been developed to curb illegal mining and take transparent action as an e-Governance initiative of GoI on use of Space Technology.
The objective of development and launching of this CMSMS application was to detect citizens' participation against illegal mining by receipt of citizen’s complaints through mobile app – KhananPrahari and to monitor and take action on any kind of illegal coal mining activity being carried out within the leasehold boundaries of any Coal Mining Project in the Coalfield Areas.
It is a Mobile App of Ministry of Coal for Reporting Illegal Coal Mining and a tool for reporting any illegal coal mining incident through geo-tagged photographs as well as textual information by any citizen from the place of incidence. The State wise details of number of cases reported till January 2023 is enclosed as Annexure.
The following measures are taken to reduce illegal coal mining operations in the country:-
Concrete walls have been erected on the mouth of the abandoned mines to prevent access and illegal activities in these areas.
Surprise raids/checks being conducted jointly by security personnel and law and order authorities of the concerned State Government. Dumping of the overburden is being done on the outcrop zones.
Installation of check-posts at vulnerable points.
Training of existing security/CISF personnel, refresher training and basic training of new recruits in security discipline for strengthening the security setup; Maintaining close liaison with the State authorities.
Committee/task force has been constituted at different level (block level, sub-divisional level, district level, state level) in some subsidiaries of CIL to monitor different aspects of illegal mining
To incentivize private sector companies for developing coal gasification projects, Ministry of Coal has formulated a policy wherein, a provision has been made for 50% rebate in revenue share for all future commercial coal block auctions for the coal used in gasification purpose provided the coal quantity used for gasification is at least 10% of total coal production.
Further, separate auction window under NRS sector has been created for making coal available for new coal gasification plants. From these incentives, it will meet the demand of dry fuel for the projects.
The Prime Minister, at the 26th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, expressed to intensify India’s efforts to address the challenge of climate change by presenting to the world five nectar elements (Panchamrit) of climate action by India.
One of these elements is to achieve net zero emissions by 2070 which presents vision for our long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies.
He also emphasized the need for climate justice and climate friendly lifestyles to safeguard future generations and the planet from the impacts of climate change.
He also articulated that India’s historical cumulative emissions and per capita emissions are very low despite being home to more than 17% of the global population.
The best practices adopted by Coal PSUs for sustainable coal mining are as below:
Bio-reclamation / Plantation: Coal PSUs have been making constant and sincere efforts to minimize the footprints of coal mining through sustained reclamation and afforestation of areas in and around coal mines. Coal PSUs have brought about 8,090 Ha by planting about 180.30 lakh saplings from FY 2019-20 to FY 2022-23 (up to January 2023).
Development of Eco-Parks: Mining areas, after the exhaustion of coal reserves, offer good potential for promoting tourism by developing eco-parks, sites for water sports, golf grounds, avenues for recreation, adventure, bird watching etc. Over the years, Coal PSUs have developed 30 Eco-parks by undertaking sustainable coal mining practices.
Mine Water utilization for community use: In the process of coal mining, a huge volume of mine water gets collected in mine sumps and subsequently pumped out to the surface. By application of appropriate treatment methods, Coal PSUs are utilizing mine water for community use for drinking/irrigation purposes.
During FY 2021-22, Coal PSUs have supplied 3703 LKL (Lakh Kilo Litre) mine water for community use of which 2712 LKL mine water was supplied for irrigation purposes and 991 LKL mine water for domestic purposes benefitting 16.18 lakh people in a total of 871 Villages in coal bearing States.
Gainful Utilization of Overburden (OB): Even as the mandate is to produce and despatch coal to its consumers, Coal PSUs have taken an out of box initiative to produce sand from overburden at a much cheaper price and usages of processed OB for stowing purposes in underground mines. In this effort, Coal PSUs have commissioned 4 OB processing plants and 3 OB to sand plants.
Promoting Renewables: In order to minimize the carbon footprints of mining and to progress towards the goal of net zero carbon emission, Coal PSUs have installed renewables capacity of about 1649 MW (Solar - 1598 MW and Wind Mills - 51 MW) as of 31.03.2022.
Energy Efficient Measures: Coal PSUs have adopted various energy conservation & efficiency measures such as the use of LED lights, energy efficient ACs, E-vehicles, Super Fans, Efficient Water Heaters, Auto timers in street lights, and capacitor banks.
Land reclamation is a continuous process in coal mining. The reclamation activities after the extraction of coal are carried out as per the approved Mine Closure Plan (MCP) / Environmental Clearance conditions which contains detailed provisions with regard to Progressive as well as Final Mine Closure activities.
In the course of mining operations, mines carry out the Progressive Mine Closure activities concurrently as per the progressive MCP to mitigate the adverse impacts of mining at the earliest possible time. The final mine closure activities such as reclamation are executed as per the approved Final MCP after the cessation of mining activities in the mine.
Satellite Surveillance Study undertaken by Coal India Limited in 2021-22 shows that out of the total excavated area of 76 Open Cast Projects, which are producing more than 5 Million m3 (OB+Coal) annually, 45.01 % area is under back filling, 17.52 % is biologically reclaimed area and 37.47 % area is under active mining.
The Ministry of Coal has the overall responsibility of determining policies and strategies in respect of exploration and development of coal and lignite reserves, sanctioning of important projects of high value and for deciding all related issues. Under the administrative control of the Ministry, these key functions are exercised through the Public Sector Undertakings, namely, Coal India Ltd. and its subsidiaries and Neyveli Lignite corporation India Limited (NLCIL).
Other than Coal India Ltd. and Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd., the Ministry of Coal also has a joint venture with Government of Telangana called Singareni Collieries Company Limited. Government of Telangana holds 51% equity and Government of India holds 49 % equity.
India has a long history of commercial coal mining covering nearly 220 years starting from 1774 by M/s Sumner and Heatly of East India Company in the Raniganj Coalfield along the Western bank of river Damodar. However, for about a century the growth of Indian coal mining remained sluggish for want of demand but the introduction of steam locomotives in 1853 gave a fillip to it.
Within a short span, production rose to an annual average of 1 million tonne (mt) and India could produce 6.12 mts. per year by 1900 and 18 mts per year by 1920. The production got a sudden boost from the First World War but went through a slump in the early thirties. The production reached a level of 29 mts. by 1942 and 30 mts. by 1946.
With the advent of Independence, the country embarked upon the 5-year development plans. At the beginning of the 1st Plan, annual production went upto 33 mts. During the 1st Plan period itself, the need for increasing coal production efficiently by systematic and scientific development of the coal industry was being felt.
Setting up of the National Coal Development Corporation (NCDC), a Government of India Undertaking in 1956 with the collieries owned by the railways as its nucleus was the first major step towards planned development of Indian Coal Industry.
Along with the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.
(SCCL) which was already in operation since 1945 and which became a Government company under the control of Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, India thus had two Government coal companies in the fifties. SCCL is now a joint undertaking of Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of India sharing its equity in 51:49 ratio.
Right from its genesis, the commercial coal mining in modern times in India has been dictated by the needs of the domestic consumption. On account of the growing needs of the steel industry, a thrust had to be given on systematic exploitation of coking coal reserves in Jharia Coalfield.
Adequate capital investment to meet the burgeoning energy needs of the country was not forthcoming from the private coal mine owners. Unscientific mining practices adopted by some of them and poor working conditions of labour in some of the private coal mines became matters of concern for the Government.
On account of these reasons, the Central Government took a decision to nationalise the private coal mines.
The nationalisation was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973.
In October, 1971, the Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971 provided for taking over in public interest of the management of coking coal mines and coke oven plants pending nationalisation.
This was followed by the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 under which the coking coal mines and the coke oven plants other than those with the Tata Iron & Steel Company Limited and Indian Iron & Steel Company Limited, were nationalised on 1.5.1972 and brought under the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a new Central Government Undertaking.
Another enactment, namely the Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1973, extended the right of the Government of India to take over the management of the coking and non-coking coal mines in seven States including the coking coal mines taken over in 1971.
This was followed by the nationalisation of all these mines on 1.5.1973 with the enactment of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 which now is the piece of Central legislation determining the eligibility of coal mining in India.
Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55% of the country's energy need. The country's industrial heritage was built upon indigenous coal.
Commercial primary energy consumption in India has grown by about 700% in the last four decades. The current per capita commercial primary energy consumption in India is about 350 kgoe/year which is well below that of developed countries.
Driven by the rising population, expanding economy and a quest for improved quality of life, energy usage in India is expected to rise.
Considering the limited reserve potentiality of petroleum & natural gas, eco-conservation restriction on hydel project and geo-political perception of nuclear power, coal will continue to occupy centre-stage of India 's energy scenario.
Indian coal offers a unique ecofriendly fuel source to domestic energy market for the next century and beyond.
Hard coal deposit spread over 27 major coalfields, are mainly confined to eastern and south central parts of the the country.
The lignite reserves stand at a level around 36 billion tonnes, of which 90 % occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu.
Through sustained programme of investment and greater thrust on application of modern technologies, it has been possible to raise the All India production of coal at 716.08 million tonnes in 2020-21 (Provisional). The all India Production of coal during 2021-22 were 778.19 MT (Provisional) with a positive growth of 8.67%.
Coal India Limited (CIL) and its subsidiaries accounted for 596.221 million tonnes during 2020-21 as compared to a production of 602.129 million tonnes in 2019-20 showing a negative growth of 0.98%. Coal production of CIL during 2021-22 were 622.634 MT(Provisional) with a positive growth of 4.43%.
Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is the main source for supply of coal to the southern region. The company produced 50.580 million tonnes of coal during 2020-21 as against 64.044 million tonnes during the corresponding period last year.
SCCL production of coal during 2021-22 was 65.022 MT(Provisional) with a postive growth of 28.55%. Small quantities of coal are also produced by TISCO, IISCO, DVC and others.
As per the present Import policy, coal can be freely imported (under Open General Licence) by the consumers themselves considering their needs based on their commercial prudence.
Coking Coal is being imported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other Steel manufacturing units mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality.
Coal based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers and coal traders are importing non-coking coal. Coke is imported mainly by Pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron & Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnace.
In mining, overburden (also called waste or spoil) is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body.
In many mineral industries, like coal industry, in open cast mines, coal can be extracted only after removing layers of soil, stone etc. This soil and stone etc is known as over burden. The removal of this overburden is known as “Over burden Removal” (OBR) and involves heavy cost.
OBR is an important performance parameter as it exposes the coal seam for future production at short notice.
Stripping activity – It is the activity of overburden removal that benefits the identified component of an ore to be mined by the entity.
Standard stripping ratio - the ratio of “overbudern (OB) to be removed” to “the mineral to be produced” during the whole project life. Suppose in an opencast mine, 20 lakh CuM OB will be removed during the life time (suppose 15 years) against the production of 10 lakh Te of coal, the standard stripping ratio will be 2.1
As per the present Import policy, coal can be freely imported (under Open General Licence) by the consumers themselves considering their needs based on their commercial prudence.
Coking Coal is being imported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other Steel manufacturing units mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality.
Coal based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers and coal traders are importing non-coking coal. Coke is imported mainly by Pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron & Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnace.