39 mining projects of Coal India face delays

State-owned Coal India Limited's 39 coal mining projects are running behind schedule on account of delays in getting green clearances and issues related to rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R).

This assumes significance in the wake of the country's power plants grappling with depleting stocks at their end.

"114 coal projects with a sanctioned capacity of 836.48 mty (million tonnes per year) and a sanctioned capital of Rs 1,19,580.62 crore are in different stages of implementation out of which 75 projects are on schedule and 39 projects are delayed," Coal India said in its report.

The major reasons for delays in implementation of these projects are delays in forest clearances and possession of land and issues related to R&R.

CIL's nine coal projects, with a sanctioned capacity of 27.60 million tonnes per year and a sanctioned capital of Rs 1,976.59 crores were completed with a total completion capital of Rs 1,958.89 crore during 2020-21.

Four of these projects belong to Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), three of Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and two of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL).

WCL, CCL and MCL are subsidiaries of Coal India.

One project with a sanctioned capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per year and a sanctioned capital of Rs 143.63 crore had started coal production during the year 2020-21, the report said.

CIL arm South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) is the mining project that started production during FY21, it said.

To achieve this target, CIL has identified major projects and assessed their related issues.

Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.