Gevra coal mine in Chhattisgarh's Korba district makes history

The Gevra project of the South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district has become the country’s first coal mine to produce over 50 million tonnes (mt) of dry fuel in a financial year.  

Ranked among one of the five largest coal mines in the world, Gevra has a significant place in the business of SECL — an entity of the state-run Coal India (CIL). Along with Dipka and Kusmunda mega projects also located in Korba, it shares two thirds of the total output of the SECL.  

The SECL, on the other hand, is inching towards 160-mt coal production figure in the financial year 2022-23, surpassing its highest-ever output of 157.35 mt recorded in 2018-19. 

While Gevra has been given a target of 52 mt, Kusmunda and Dipka plan to produce 45 mt and 38 mt, respectively, in FY23.  

A SECL spokesperson said the Gevra coal mine on Monday crossed the figure of 50 mt of coal production in FY23. With about a week left in FY23, SECL’s Gevra coal mine is set to achieve the target comfortably, the spokesperson added. Along with production, Gevra mine had dispatched 49.08 mt, which is marginally lower than the target of 50 mt. Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, along with SECL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Prem Sagar Mishra and the board of directors and senior officials, congratulated the team for the achievement.  

“The Gevra coal mine had immense potential for development and expansion,” Mishra said, adding that the company was for now eyeing to enhance the output to 70 mt and expand it further. 

Started in 1981, Gevra coal mine has mineable reserves of about 1,338 mt. The SECL-CIL has been using modern and eco-friendly technology to extract coal from Gevra. While blasting free surface mining technique is practised, the rapid loading system is used for transportation of coal through mechanized conveyor belt facility silos.  

The SECL would fail to meet the target of 182 mt set for FY23, paving the way for the Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) to retain the top spot of CIL in coal production for the second successive year. The Odisha-Sambalpur-based arm of CIL had already surpassed its coal output target of 176 mt for FY23 in the first week of March itself.