PLANNING
FOR
HIGHER PRODUCTION
BY CIL
INTRODUCTION
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
Coal is the primary source of energy in
India and accounts for about 55% of the
total energy supplies.
Coal contributes to the extent of around
60% of total electrical power generated in
India.
Its dominance as source of energy is
expected to continue for long with
contribution exceeding 50%.
Progressively increasing demand of coal
and widening demand-availability gap is
a concern for the country.
INTRODUCTION



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CIL, being the largest producer of coal in India, plays a crucial role in the
endeavor of meeting the growing energy needs of the country
With the active planning support extended by CMPDI since its inception, the
nation has witnessed phenomenal growth in coal production.
Coal production increased from 79 Mt in 1974-75 to 462.42 Mt in 2013-14.
During 2013-14, contribution of CIL to the total coal production was around
81%.
CMPDI has been playing a key role in shaping each of the subsidiary
companies of CIL by :

fulfilling their planning requirements, and

proving coal reserves on regular basis in their respective command areas.
Trend of CIL’s Contribution to Coal
Production of India
100%
550 84.57%
84.36%
83.77%
83.02%
532.694
81.06%
80.97%
539.95
565.766
90%
81.93%
500
457.082
532.042
556.402
492.757
80.72%
81.27% 81.73%
430.832
450
80%
70%
407.039
400
60%
382.615
350
300
2004-05
50%
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
Year
2010-11
2011-12
All India Total
2012-13
40%
2013-14
CIL Contribution
Contribution of CIL (%)
Coal Production (million tonnes)
600
Production (million tonnes)
2007-08
2008-09
462.42
2006-07
452.20
2005-06
435.84
2004-05
431.32
403.73
Year
CIL
103.34
104.20
104.11
101.37
100.78
89.03
77.62
69.92
63.65
500
431.26
379.46
0
360.91
100
343.39
200
59.04
400
323.58
Trend of CIL’s Coal Production
600
300
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
Others
Need for Production Enhancement

As per the XII Five Year Plan document, coal demand is expected to increase to
980.50 Mt by the terminal year i.e., 2016-17, and further it is projected to
increase to 1373 Mt by the terminal year of XIII Plan i.e., 2021-22.

In this perspective, it is projected that CIL would contribute to the extent of 615
Mt and 795 Mt by the terminal year of XII Plan and XIII Plan, respectively from
the current production level of 462.42 Mt.

Planning & implementing large number of high capacity mining projects is,
therefore, urgently required.
Mine Planning by CMPDI
 CMPDI has prepared a total of 691 project reports for CIL since inception
contributing to the capacity addition of various coal producing subsidiary
companies of CIL by as much as around 1167 Mt.
 Additionally, around 420 odd project reports were also prepared, which actually
did not contribute to the incremental production capacity of the mines of CIL due
to various reasons viz.,
 complex land, environment and R&R issues,
 geo-mining conditions,
 merged with other projects,
 economic unviability, etc.
Project Reports Prepared by CMPDI
(Category-wise distribution by numbers)
Project Reports Prepared by CMPDI
(Category-wise distribution by capacity Mt)
PRs Exhausted
Projects, 28.55
PRs Awaiting
Approval, 388.55
PRs Completed
Projects, 343.85
PRs Ongoing
Projects, 406.57
PRs prepared by CMPDI
since inception has
results in total capacity
addition of around 1167
Mt for CIL.
PRs prepared for Capacity Addition
120
Capacity Addition (Mt)
100
80
60
40
20
0
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Year
Highlights of PRs for XII Plan
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A total of 126 projects had been identified for XII Plan resulting in capacity
addition of about 446 Mt per annum.

Against this, project reports for 93 projects, with capacity addition of about 337
Mt per annum have already been formulated.
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Balance 33 Project Reports with capacity addition of about 109 Mt per annum
will be formulated in subsequent years of XII Plan.
Highlights of PRs of High Capacity
Opencast Projects
 38 large opencast projects have been planned by CMPDI each having capacity in
excess of 10 Mt per annum:
 33 projects have production capacity between 10 to 20 Mt per annum,
 two projects each of 25 Mt per annum capacity, and
 three projects each of 35 Mt, 40 Mt and 50 Mt per annum capacity, respectively
 25 of these are already approved while remaining13 projects await approval;
Planning for Mechanised Underground
Projects
 Continuous efforts are made by CMPDI to introduce
mass production technology in underground mines of
CIL wherever geo-mining conditions permit.
 With the encouraging results from the first few installations of continuous miners
in underground mines of CIL, large hope rests on this technology to help
enhance production capacity and productivity of mines in near future.
 There are presently seven mines deploying eight continuous miners with total
planned production capacity of 3.35 Mt per annum.
Planning for Mechanised Underground
Projects
 Project reports for 18 mines, prepared by CMPDI with proposed deployment of
23 continuous miners, have already been approved for total planned production
capacity of around 10.68 Mt per annum.
 Further, project reports for seven more mines have been prepared by CMPDI with
proposed deployment of 17 continuous miners. The total envisaged production
capacity of these mines will be around 7.57 Mt per annum, but these project
reports are yet to be approved.
 Despite unsatisfactory performance of longwall mining in the past, a renewed
effort is being made to deploy longwall mining technology in a few mines under
MDO mode namely, Moonidih, Muraidih and Kapuria mines in BCCL, and
Jhanjra mine in ECL.
Planning for Mechanised Underground
Projects
 The likely capacity addition with the implementation of this Long wall
technology would be around 8.9 Mt per annum.
 Further, three more mines namely, Nand, Murpar and Borda of WCL have been
identified for deployment of longwall mining technology.
 Highwall mining and trench mining are another potential areas which can
contribute significantly to enhance the coal production of the country.
Planning for Mechanised Underground
Projects
 With the application of modern highwall miner either at the exposed highwall of
an opencast mine or in trenches, considerable amount of coal can now be
recovered, which otherwise could not have been extracted economically either
by opencast or underground method of mining.
 At present, modern highwall miner technology has been implemented in Sharda
opencast project of SECL.
 Efforts are being made by CMPDI to identify more mines for the application of
this technology.
Constraints & Challenges in Planning
for Higher Production
 Requirement of increased pace of exploration
 Achievement during 2013-14:
7 lakh meters of drilling
 Drilling target for 2014-15:
12 lakh meters
 Drilling target for 2015-16:
15 lakh meters
 Large number of potential coal blocks fall under the forest cover of various
categories requiring FC from MoEF and concerned state governments for
permission to undertake exploration and mining in forest covered areas, which is
a very time consuming and cumbersome process.
 Further, as per the existing norms, drilling of only 20 boreholes are permitted per
10 square kilometers in the forest areas, which is not adequate for deciphering
geological structures and estimating reserve of underlying coal seams with
acceptable level of confidence for mine planning purpose.
Constraints & Challenges in Planning
for Higher Production
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Heavily built-up surface areas over and around coal blocks generally lead
to :
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intriguing land acquisition problems;

requirement of huge capital for R&R affecting the economics of the project;

compromised strategy in deciding mining limits and/ or even mining method at
planning stage in order to protect some important surface features;

shortage of space for overburden dumping;
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requirement of diversion of roads, nalas, etc. increasing the capex load on the
project, etc.
Constraints & Challenges in Planning
for Higher Production
 Requirement of surface rights prior to depillaring with caving, as usually
imposed as a condition by DGMS, leads to:
 well-known land acquisition problem;
 delays in commencement of depillaring operation;
 additional cost to the already ailing underground mines with higher cost of
mining;
 reduced production and productivity if other alternative methods such as
partial extraction or extraction with stowing is adopted.
 If imposition of such condition is kept continued, most of the underground
mining projects in future might not remain economically viable under the present
criteria of economic viability of mining projects.
Constraints & Challenges in Planning
for Higher Production
 Lack of good rail networks in the green field areas and even in some parts of the
active coalfield areas poses a serious constraint for the Indian coal industry.
 Law and order problems particularly for coal blocks situated in states of
Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh are serious issues for the mining industry
and need to be addressed jointly by the concerned State Government and the
Central Government.
 Size and geometry of coal blocks sometimes become a constraint for planning
for higher capacity mines.
Way Forward
 Enhancing pace of exploration by :
 mechanizing and modernizing the drilling operation conducted by all
agencies engaged in coal exploration;
 adopting to other modern techniques of exploration viz., high resolution
2D and 3D seismic survey, borehole tomography, other advanced
geophysical techniques, etc.;
 early revision of existing norm (of permitting for limited number of drill
holes in forest areas) by MoEF, etc.
 A system needs to be evolved jointly by the MoC, MoEF and the coal industry to
avoid delays in forestry and environmental clearances.
 Sensitive law and order problems cropping up during exploration as well as
mining need to be handled jointly by the mining industry, Ministry of Coal (MoC)
and local administration of the concerned State Government.
Way Forward
 For establishing good rail network for the purpose of quick coal evacuation from
the coalfields, co-ordinated effort between the MoC and Ministry of Railways is
required.
 Instead of the usual practice of making provision for individual project, the
approved master plan of coalfields should be taken as basis for planned
development of this badly needed infrastructure.
 Joining of smaller adjacent coal blocks may be considered for better exploitation
of in-situ reserves and if needed, even a joint venture may be considered if the
block is owned by a different company.
Way Forward
 Exploring possibilities of implementing emerging backfilling technologies in
underground mines for exploitation of coal beneath built-up surface areas.
 Suitability of some of these technologies such as backfilling with high water
content material, paste, flyash, etc. may be examined by undertaking pilot
projects.
 Exploitation of other coal based energy sources such as CBM (Coalbed Methane),
CMM (Coal Mine Methane), VAM (Ventilation Air Methane), UCG (Underground
Coal Gasification), CTL (Coal to Liquid), etc. should also be considered as far as
possible.
 Possibilities of implementing highwall mining and trench mining to recover coal
need to be explored.
Conclusions
 CMPDI has the capability to plan for high capacity mines.
 A number of constraints usually experienced need to be addressed strategically
by the coal companies, local community, state governments and the Central
Government jointly.
 The following additional measures for success in our endeavour :
 Modernising exploration activities,
 Expeditious forestry and environmental clearances,
 Adopting suitable modern technology,
 Establishing rail corridors for coal evacuation,
 Pro-active support of and co-ordination among policy makers, regulators, various
other government agencies, etc.