Flooding at large Coal India mine to halt output for a month
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Flooding at one of Coal India Ltd’s largest open-pit mines will halt production there for at least a month, a senior company official told Reuters on Wednesday, in a setback for a country trying to reduce its dependence on coal imports.
The flooding at the Dipka mine, which produces more than 30 million tonnes a year of thermal coal and accounts for some 5% of Coal India’s overall output, could leave some power plants in eastern and central India scrambling for fuel.
The mine supplies coal to multiple utilities including NTPC Ltd’s Sipat plant in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, where the mine is located, and state-run utilities in western Maharashtra state.
