Coal minister asks ECL to ramp up production to 50 MT during current fiscal

On his visit to the ECL areas, Joshi inaugurated several infrastructure projects that would help increase coal-loading capacity and control the pollution caused by coal production and dispatch

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday directed the officers of the Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) to work for achieving the production target of 50 MT during the current fiscal to meet the energy requirement of the country, a statement said.

In 2021-22, ECL produced 45 million tonnes (MT) of coal.

On the second day of his two-day visit to the ECL areas, Joshi inaugurated several infrastructure projects that would help increase coal-loading capacity and control the pollution caused by coal production and dispatch, the statement said.

Joshi also visited the View Point of Sonepur Bazari opencast project. He inspected the project and held a review meeting with officials.

The minister also visited the underground coal mine in Jhanjhara, about 225 metres deep. At an annual production capacity of 3.5 MT, it is the most coal-producing underground mine in India, the statement said.

Joshi is the first coal minister to visit the mine. There, he interacted with coal mine workers, besides inaugurating the Jhanjhara expansion project, raising its capacity to 5 MT.