Singareni eyes coal blocks in other states

After signing the pact with NTPC to jointly develop captive coal blocks and new power projects recently, state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is now looking at acquiring captive coal blocks in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh on its own through competitive bidding.

S Narsing Rao, chairman and managing director of SCCL, said the company had so far identified 10 such coal blocks including a couple of underground mines for bidding in an effort to expand its coal production base beyond the Godavari Valley coalfields.

"The Singareni coalfields have been facing several constraints like economic viability and lack of enough extractable reserves. This prompted us to look for other places so that our expertise and capabilities are put to maximum use," he said.

Among other initiatives, the company is in the process of setting up a separate joint venture company with the NTPC for mining and power development both domestically and abroad. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the ONGC to explore the possibilities of developing coal-bed methane and coal gasification operations in Singareni coalfields in Andhra.

SCCL also signed an MoU with Carbon Energy Pty Limited of Australia last month to study the potential for underground coal gasification in SCCL-command areas.

The company has drawn up plans to develop 22 new mines capable of yielding 32 million tonne of coal annually at an investment of Rs 2,915 crore by the year 2011-12. It has proposed to close down 17 mines, mostly underground, with a capacity of 10.1 million tonne on considerations of safety and viability during the same period.

The company has proposed to achieve a production target of 37.5 million tonne during the next financial year, compared with 36.14 million tonne of coal last year.