Coal India (CIL NSE 1.34 %) has approved a record 32 mining projects this fiscal at an investment of Rs 47,300 crore. While 24 of the 32 are expansion of the existing projects, eight are new greenfield projects. Combined peak capacity of these projects is projected at 193 million tonnes a year. This will be in addition to the sanctioned capacity of 303.5 million tonnes (mtpa) a year.
Coal India chairman Pramod Agrawal in an interview last week told ET that the company will not start new coal mines which require handing out large scale employment against land acquisition. “Presently, we have to give employment to one labour per two acres acquired. In the past year, we have done tenders for a lot of high-end equipment and these equipment wherever we have installed, the productivity has increased tremendously. We are closing down mines which are not efficient,” he said. CIL board and boards of the respective subsidiary companies have given their nod for the move, a company official said.
