PPP coal project at Talcher to start production next year

India’s first coal project being taken up on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode is expected to begin production by the middle of next year.

The open cast coal project named Gopal Prasad would have a production capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum and it is being taken up at an investment of about Rs 400 crore.

Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), has 60 per cent equity in this coal project. The private companies which are a part of the PPP project include JSW Steel, JSW Energy, JSL and Shyam DRI.

While JSW Steel and JSW Energy would have 9 per cent stake each, JSL and Shyam DRI would have 11 per cent stake each in the project. The proposed coal project will meet the coal demand of these companies. The project consists of western part of Gopal Prasad (west) and Utkal-A block of Talcher Coalfields, said a top official of MCL. Sixty per cent of coal produced from the mine will be retained by MCL while the remaining 40 per cent will be shared among the private companies as per their equity in the project.

While MCL would have the right to sell coal, the private companies will use the mines for captive purposes.

Official sources informed that land is being acquired for the project under Central Coal Bearing Act. Notification for land acquisition has been issued under Section 4 (1) for the Utkal-A block of Talcher Coalfileds, a part of the project.

The project involves displacement of people in 10 villages out of which the people in three villages- Kankerai, Kansidip and Pidhakmara have to be fully displaced, said a MCL official.