Centre plans to auction 30 underground coal mines in the next round

The Centre is planning to put 30 underground coal mines under the hammer in the next round of auction, two officials said while noting that it is aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability and energy security.

 

This comes as the coal ministry aims to increase underground coal mining to 100 million tonnes (mt) annually by 2030 against the current production of 34.3 mt. The additional capacity will help meet the growing domestic demand and reduce dependence on imported coal.

 

Roadshows are going on for the 12th round of auction. This time, the focus is on underground mining because our target is to go for 100 mt of coal production each year from underground mining by 2030. Underground mines are generally environment friendly,” one of the officials said.

 

Till the 11th auction, it was a mix of opencast and underground mines, but in the 12th round, the focus is more on underground mines, and going forward, more will be offered,” the official revealed.

 

The official added that, “Though the number has not been decided yet, around 30 underground mines are likely to be put on auction in the next round.”

 

However, the official did not disclose the names of underground mines to be put on auction.

 

To promote commercial coal mining and attract private investment, the Ministry of Coal has been organising roadshows in several states.  The upcoming 12th round of commercial coal mine auctions is expected to commence in the second week of March. In the last auction, the government offered 27 commercial coal mines, including both opencast and underground mines.

 

Generally, underground mines do not pollute the environment much compared to open cast mines and you don’t need to clear the forest. The forest is there but you have to make an entry to dig in below the surface so that the surface is not disturbed,” the official added.

 

Queries sent to the secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Coal remained unanswered till going to press.

 

"The decision for using one of the two mining (open pit and underground) methods depends on the ore body and how they occur in the earth's crust. They can be very deep-seated and therefore they are mined underground but for some minerals they're surficial and bulk of it appears in large quantities making it easier to only mine in the open pit method. Other factors such as costs and scale of operations also are important considerations," said Karthik Bansal, Research Associate atC the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP).

 

"Cost-effectiveness will always play a factor, and underground mining is much more capital intensive. It's true that open-pit mining is far more damaging to the environment and restoration of the mining site is much harder in such cases," Bansal added.

 

He further said, "There is a global movement towards completely moving to underground mining but a lot of this depends on how much companies can invest in mining projects. Currently, India is struggling with getting foreign investments in the mining sector. Therefore, domestic companies might be unlikely to adopt only underground mining for all minerals as easily. The government isn't likely to place that as a requirement either. It could deter companies from further investing as well."

 

Open-cast coal mining involves removing layers of earth to expose coal seams, which has an impact on the air and water. It leads to noise pollution, carbon emissions, soil erosion and waste generation.

 

To mitigate these effects, coal companies comply with the environment impact assessment and take mitigation measures according to ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) guidelines, coal minister G. Kishan Reddy had said, in a reply to Parliament last December.

 

Underground mining is environmentally sustainable and has relatively minimal environmental and social impact.

 

Some key potential benefits of underground mining are reduced impact on surface, air and water along with lower noise and carbon emission, the minister added.

 

India is currently the world’s second-largest producer, importer and consumer of coal. It is also one of the biggest emitters of methane from coal mining.

 

To meet the rising energy demand and reduce coal imports, the Ministry of Coal is planning a significant expansion in domestic coal mining, alongside its considerable renewable energy expansion.

 

If implemented, it could see domestic coal mining reach annual production levels that are more than 2.2 times the rate agreed upon in the Paris agreement.

 

Cumulative coal production in the country between April 2024 and February 2025 was 928.95 mt, a 5.73 per cent increase compared to 878.55 mt during the same period in the previous year. Likewise, cumulative coal dispatch rose to 929.41 mt, a 5.5 per cent growth from 880.92 mt in the previous year, an official statement had said.