State needs additional coal blocks of 5,000 Mt

Keeping in view the coal requirement for the upcoming steel and power projects in the state, the Orissa government would approach the Centre soon for allocation of additional coal blocks with reserves of 5,000 million tonnes.

The demand for additional non-coking coal in the state is projected at 210 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2013 which includes 140 mtpa for power projects and the balance 70 mtpa for sponge iron-based steel plants.

“We are going to approach the Centre soon for allocation of additional coal blocks with reserves of 5,000 million tonnes to help meet the additional non-coking coal requirement by 2013 for the upcoming steel and power projects in the state”, said Ashok Dalwai, secretary, steel and mines department, Orissa government.

He pointed out that the state government had inked MoUs (memorandum of understanding) with 49 steel players and 21 independent power producers and the Centre needed to allocate coal blocks for these projects. The coal production of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited stood at 97 million tonnes (mt) in 2008-09 and its production was projected at 150 mt by 2103. “Considering that 50 per cent of this additional requirement of 210 mtpa of coal can be met partly by MCL and partly from the captive coal blocks, there would be still a shortfall of 100 mtpa of coal. This additional 100 mtpa of coal can be produced within Orissa by the state PSUs (public sector undertakings) for meeting the industry requirement”, he added.

Dalwai was speaking at Coal Nex, a workshop on coal requirement organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with the steel and mines department of the Orissa government. The Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) which has been allotted three coal blocks is exploring the possibility of taking up coal mining through joint venture with MCL or any overseas coal miner, said Dalwai who is also the chairman of OMC.

Out of the three coal blocks- Utkal-D, Mandakini-B and Naugaon-Telisahi, OMC has completed exploration of the Utkal-D coal block and its mining plan has also been approved. The process of exploration is underway for the Mandakini-B and Naugaon-Telisahi coal blocks. While the Utkal-D coal block has a reserve of 145.68 mt, the coal reserves of the Mandakini-B and Naugaon-Telisahi blocks are 1200 mt and 733.83 mt respectively. Speaking on the occasion, Raghunath Mohanty, the state steel and mines minister said, “Keeping in view the burgeoning coal requirement for the upcoming projects in the state, we need to address the problem of environmental degradation posed by the coal mining activities.” PR Mandal, advisor (projects) of the Union coal ministry said, the country needs to address the problem of coal evacuation and ensure that the coal reaches the desired consumers as coal output is set to go up significantly in the coming years.