Strategy for stepping up coal production in CILBy – 1. A K Debnath*

2. S.K.Dubey**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABSTRACT

India can not afford to restrict its growth on account of supply of energy. Coal, being the prime source of energy in the country with a broader reserve base, has to take the major onus of increased energy supply. Responsibility of fulfilling the coal supply requirement of the country primarily rests on Coal India Limited(CIL). Further, this dominant status of CIL is likely to continue in foreseeable future. The gap between the demand and indigenous availability of coal in the country has been rising. Presently, coal import of about 99 Mt is being made. The import requirement is projected to be 265 Mt by 2016-17 under ‘business as usual scenario’ and about 185 Mt under ‘Optimistic scenario’. This gap is likely to widen further beyond XII Plan period leading to requirement of hefty import. In order to restrict the requirement of coal import, to the extent possible, in coming years, CIL has no option but to raise its production level to a great extent by every means. Coal production can not be started without possession of land, solving R&R problems, getting Environmental and Forestry clearances as well as addressing the coal evacuation problems. Additionally, issues like faster exploration requirement including drilling capacity augmentation, enhancing pace of projectisation for existing and new coal blocks (out of 119 nos.), emphasis on coal production from underground mines, etc., are required to be addressed by CIL for stepping up its production. Additionally, this calls for meticulous identification of coal blocks suitable for mechanisation, increasing the level of mechanisation in existing mines, introduction of state-of-the-art machines from overseas, establishing indigenous equipment manufacturing capacity, ensuring optimal utilisation of the equipments as per international standards, improving the working culture, etc. Manpower planning & development needs and other requirements like skill development would also have to be made effective to motivate the workforce for growth requirement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Energy is central to development & poverty reduction measures and can be described as “the

backbone of civilization”. World's population is forecast to increase from six billion,

currently, to over eight billion by 2030. With this explosion of population and particularly,

with the emerging dynamic new economies, the pursuit of quantity-wise and quality-wise

affordable and reliable source of energy is presenting unprecedented economic, social and

environmental challenges. Finding ways to provide energy, those will lift emerging nations’

economies, provide employment and boost quality of life across the globe, and to do so in a

way which is within the means of the common mass, is the major challenge before the energy

providers.

Worldwide, coal is an extremely important fuel as it is most abundant and widely distributed

fossil fuel source and energy from coal is cheaper. About 29.6% of primary energy needs are

met by coal (source : BP Statistical June, 2011) and 39% of electricity is generated from coal.

About 70% of world steel production depends on coal feedstock.

The energy dependence on coal is more pronounced in case of developing countries like India

and China. In India, coal is currently the prime source of energy as it provides about 52% of

the commercial energy and about 67% of the electricity generation is coal based. The

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Director (Tech./Planning & Design),Central Mine Planning & Design Institute, Ranchi-31.

* Technical Secretary to CMD, Central Mine Planning & Design Institute, Ranchi-31.

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dominance of coal as energy provider is likely to continue in foreseeable future. It is estimated (as per Integrated Energy Policy of Planning Commission of India-Aug, 2006) that requirement of power generation capacity of 8 lakh MW by 2031-32 in the country will translate into a massive need for coal availability to a level of over 2 billion tonnes / annum based on domestic quality of coal. Even in the least coal dominant scenario with enhanced contribution from renewable, nuclear and hydroelectric sources, the coal demand has been estimated to be about 1582 Mt (632 Mtoe). Against the backdrop of this mighty coal demand, the availability of lesser amount of coal indigenously, forcing increasing import of coal with time, is a matter of concern and this in turn, would remain the prime driver of all initiatives for increasing the coal production in the country. Moreover, the burgeoning coal demand supply gap necessitates, Coal India Limited, the Maharatna Public Undertaking and the largest coal producer company in the world, having the mandate to meet the country’s coal requirement under the National Coal Distribution Policy, to come up with further initiatives for stepping up coal production and meeting up the gap even through import of coal. This necessitates pro-active strategies for bridging the gap to the extent possible.

2.0 PROJECTED DEMAND-SUPPLY GAP 2.1 COAL DEMAND

2.1.1 The Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) document of Planning Commission (Aug., 2006) presented several alternative scenarios of energy mix to sustain a GDP growth rate of 8% till 2031-32 where the requirement of coal based energy has been projected to vary from 1022 Mtoe (2555 Mt) for a coal dominant scenario to 632 Mtoe (1580 Mt) in the scenario considering utilisation of full potential of nuclear, hydro and renewable resources along with all energy conservation measures. Under another option for sustaining 9 % GDP growth, the IEP document has assessed demands of 708 Mt (283 Mtoe) by 2016-17 and 1303 Mt (521 Mtoe) by 2021-22 indicating a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8 % during 2017-22.

The ‘Working Group on Coal and Lignite for XII Plan period’ in its report has projected a coal demand of 980.5 Mt by the terminal year of XII Plan i.e. 2016-17 as indicated in Table-2.

Table – 2 : Projected Coal demand in XI and XII Plan

(in Mt)Particulars Demand in Terminal year of XI Plan i.e.

2011-12Projected demand in

terminal year of XII Plan (16-17) as per the WG for

XII Plan period (draft report)

Original estimate

Mid Term Appraisal

Actual

Total (Mt) 731.10 713.24 634.35 980.5

Customer/Sector-wise break up of assessed coal demand for 2016-17 is indicated in Table-3.

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Table – 3 : Customer / sector-wise break up of assessed coal demand for 2016-17

* Based on projection of 17th Electric Power Survey for energy requirement of 1392 BU in 2016-17 and past trend of 70% of coal

based thermal energy requirement in the total thermal energy requirement..

** Commensurate with the optimistic projection of steel production of 105 Mt in 2016-17.

2.1.2 COAL AVAILABILITY

Table– 4 indicates the coal production during the X and XI plan periods -

Table-4 :Coal Production in India

(Figs. in Mt)Coal Producers Actual production during X

planActual production during XI plan

2002-03 2006-07 2007-08 2011-12CIL 290.69 360.91 379.46 435.83SCCL 33.23 37.71 40.60 52.21Other PSUs 1.51 1.77 2.11 2.71Total PSUs 325.43 400.39 422.17 490.75Tata Steel & Captive Blocks 11.44 24.65 28.38 41.98Meghalaya 4.40 5.79 6.54 7.21Total Others 15.84 30.44 34.92 49.19ALL INDIA 341.27 430.83 457.08 539.94UG 63.16 57.75 58.90 51.83OC 278.11 373.08 398.18 488.11Total 341.27 430.83 457.08 539.94Coking 30.19 32.08 34.46 51.65Non-Coking 311.08 398.75 422.63 488.29TOTAL 341.27 430.83 457.08 539.94

CAGR 5.6% in X Plan period CAGR 4.35% in X Plan period

Table–5 indicates the coal production projection in 2016-17 by the Working Group on Coal and Lignite for the XII five year plan.

Table-5 :Coal Production projection

Particulars Production (Mt) in terminal year of XII Plan under ‘Optimistic Scenario’

Projected coal production (Mt) 795

Delivering of requisite clearances within specified time schedule and addressing issues affecting land acquisition, R&R, law & order and infrastructures for coal evacuation, effectively, in a time bound manner have been spelt out as the conditions under the Optimistic scenario for the

Customer / sector Demand assessed by WG (Mt) Demand in % of total demand

Power Utility 682* 69.6Power Captive incl. fert. 56.36 5.7Cement 47.31 4.8Sponge Iron 50.33 5.1Others 77.3 7.9

Total non-coking 913.3 93.2Coking 67.2** 6.9Total 980.5 100

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envisaged production of 795 Mt by 2016-17. Contribution from CIL in this projected production would be 615 Mt. However, it has also been projected that the production may reduce to a level of 715 Mt in the country by 2016-17 if the requisite clearances and issues affecting land acquisition, R&R, law & order and infrastructures for coal evacuation are not delivered in time. CIL production in such condition (Business as usual) would be about 556 Mt.

2.1.3 PROJECTED DEMAND-AVAILABILITY GAP FOR COALExhibit–1 illustrates the widening of coal demand & availability gap over plan periods –

Coal Demand vs Availability from indigenous sources

550634.35

980.5

455

795

95

535.42

98.93185.5

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2006-07 2011-12 2016-17

Terminal years of Plan period

Fig

ure

s in

Mt

Demand

Availability

Gap

Exhibit –1.

Note : Import figure of 2011-12 is provisional.

Production under the ‘Optimistic scenario’ would result in a demand-indigenous availability gap of about 185 Mt which may rise to a level of about 265 Mt in the Business As Usual scenario.

Furthermore, the demand-indigenous availability gap projected for 2016-17 would rise further during successive plan periods. This necessitates immediate strategy to augment the coal production to the extent possible to reduce the gap and import requirement. CIL, being the major coal producer, and supplier of over 40% of the commercial energy of the country has to come out with pro-active strategies for enhancing its coal production level.

3.0 STRATEGY FOR STEPPING UP COAL PRODUCTION IN CILProduction achievement by CIL during XI Plan was at a CAGR of 5.6 % which came down to 4.4 % during XII Plan. Enhancement of coal production from a level of about 435 Mt during 2011-12 to a level of 615 Mt under ‘Optimistic Scenario’ by 2016-17 would entail CAGR of 7.2%. Moreover, achievement of 615 Mt by 2016-17 by CIL would not be enough to limit the increasing import of coal in the country and the country would have to resort to growing import to meet the requirement of various consumers in the country. To restrict the import to the extent possible by augmenting the coal production level, the strategies would involve the following steps :

3.1 OPERATIONAL INITIATIVES BY CIL

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3.1.1 ENHANCEMENT IN THE PACE OF EXPLOATION

Out of 18280 sq km of known potential coal bearing area in the country, 14013 sq km has been covered by regional exploration. Out of the regionally explored areas, 7190 sq km has been covered by detailed exploration, which is excluding area covered by detailed exploration by block allocattees. Considering a rough estimate of detailed exploration for about 800 sq km of area by the block allocattees, the balance of regionally explored area which is yet to be fully explored is about 6000 sq km. This area of 6000 sq km is having a density of about 1 borehole per sq km which is required to be raised up to about 15 to 20 boreholes per sq km through detailed drilling for projectisation for mining by opencast or underground methods. CIL accounts for a part of this area which has been regionally explored but pending for detailed exploration.

CMPDI, the Mini-ratna subsidiary of CIL, is the agency entrusted with the job of proving the coal resources through detailed drilling. The present capacity of CMPDI including the contractual agencies carrying out drilling under its supervision is 5 lakh meter per year. Out of this, about 3.90 lakh meter of drilling was carried out in 2011-12 in blocks of CIL. The drilling capacity of CMPDI, including outsourced drilling, needs to be enhanced (to over 10 lakh meter) to enable projectisation of coal reserves in blocks by CMPDI at a faster pace by CMPDI. The present capacity of coal core analysis (CMPDI & CIMFR) is 60000 m of core length which needs to be enhanced to about 1.5 lakh m by 2015-16. Furthermore, commensurate increase in availability of geologists, geo-physicist, etc. and associated infrastructure would be required for overall enhancement in the exploration capacity apart from permission to explore in the forest part of the coal blocks with required bore-hole density i.e. 15-20 boreholes per sq km.

The estimated meterage present in blocks for bidding, additional blocks allowed to be retained by CIL, de-allocated blocks offered to CIL, XII Plan projects of CIL, CIL Blocks and non-CIL blocks identified on the basis of the available potential blocks, including Non-CIL blocks are listed in Table-6 below –

Table-6 : Drilling meterage in identified potential blocks

Sl. No.

Type of blocks No. of blocks

Estimated Meterage(lakh meter)

1.0 Blocks for bidding 37 13.70

2.0 Non-CIL blocks 68 19.03

3.0 Addl. CIL Blocks allowed to be retained by CIL 116 24.25

4.0 De-allocated blocks offered to CIL 2 0.38

5.0 XII Plan Projects 13 1.16

6.0 CIL Blocks 79 10.79

Total 315 69.31

However, to sustain the programme of detailed exploration beyond XII Plan at an enhanced rate of drilling of over 10 lakh meter per annum will need the commensurate enhancement in the efforts on Regional/Promotional exploration.

3.1.2 FASTER PROJECTISATION OF NEW BLOCKS

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Apart from necessity of maximizing production availability from the existing coal blocks of CIL, from where 615 Mt of coal production has been envisaged by 2016-17, additional blocks including the 119 nos. allowed to be retained by CIL recently, should be considered for development at the earliest as soon as the exploration in such blocks are over. These 119 blocks have been tentatively estimated for a total capacity of about 240 Mty. Out of these, 45 blocks will have opencast mines and 57 blocks will have underground mines whereas as the balance 17 blocks will be with mixed mines. Early development of these blocks will provide CIL a comfort in meeting the demand-supply gap.

3.1.3 DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT THROUGH MDO (MINE DEVELOPMENT OPERATOR) ROUTE

Introduction of Development Operators in the infra-structure development in the country has been of help in enhancing its pace of development. Though outsourcing plays a major role in CIL’s performance in terms of coal production and OB removal, development of the mine similar to development by MDOs is being practised only in few mines like Rajmahal OC of ECL. Though earlier effort of CIL in identification of 7 high capacity Underground mines for development through global bids have not been successful, development of Muraidih UG and Moonidih UG of BCCL by operators may set a new trend in UG mine development by private operators.

Nonetheless, CIL has no option but to try again for engagement of MDOs in underground mine development through various initiatives and relaxations. Also, considering the delay in land acquisition, law and order and other problems associated with open cast project development, wider engagement of the Development Operators for open cast mines/projects might result in crashing the activities of mine development and early realisation of the production from such mines. Realisation of the gains of engagement of MDOs in some of its projects would also set the trend in respect of wider engagement of the MDOs.

Participation of the developers, particularly for the underground mines, may be encouraged through provision for the Mobilisation advance to such developers. Even the Performance Guarantee clause, present in contracts of the coal company with these developers, might be relaxed to motivate these MDOs to come forward. Also, the methodology of participation of the MDOs need to be made easier / user friendly.

3.1.4 UNDERGROUND MINE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT

Opencast mining method dominates the mining scenario in CIL as it produces over 91 % of the coal produced by CIL. The reasons are – growing demand, easier mining method where geo-mining adversities have much lesser impact, availability of bulk handling machineries, etc. All of this has put the underground mining in the back stage.

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COal Production by CIL during X and XI Plan

0

200

400

600

Year

Pro

du

cti

on

in

MT

OC

UG

Total

OC 242 259 277 298 318 336 360 388 391 397

UG 48 47 47 46 43 44 44 43 40 38

Total 291 306 324 343 361 379 404 431 431 436

02-03

03-04

04-05

05-06

06-07

07-08

08-09

09-10

10-11

11-12

Exhibit –2Exhibit-2 indicates the reduction in importance of underground mining in CIL in the total production scenario where the underground performance has dwindling trend over the years. However, the limited shallow depth reserves amenable to opencast mining are likely to be exhausted in foreseeable future (may be after 25-30 years) and the production from opencast coal mines in CIL may reach a plateau. The resulting imbalance in production can not be set right as large scale production suddenly is not possible from underground mines. Also, the gestation period in case of underground mines is generally more in case of underground projects.

The reply lies in introduction of bulk production technologies in underground mines on urgent basis as planning, execution and adaptation will take considerable time. Though, the efforts in late 1970s and early 1980s of introduction of Power Support Longwall in CIL mines on a large scale could not be successful due to various reasons, it became very successful in China. In comparison to 400 longwall faces and an estimated 2.5 million tonnes of coal production per unit per annum in China, India has only a few longwall faces with a very low production. Status of initiatives taken by CIL for mechanisation and production enhancement efforts in the recent past are indicated below : Continuous Miners (CMs) have been presently deployed 7 mines of CIL with a total

capacity of 2.78 Mty as indicated below in Table 7 – Table-7

Subsidiary Company

No of mines

Name of the mines, CM Capacity (Mty)

ECL 2 Jhanjra (0.36) and Sarpi (0.46) WCL 2 Tandsi(0.51)*SECL 4 NCPH – Chirimiri(0.43), Sheetal Dhara – Kurja(0.36),

Pinoura (0.48)and Rani – Atari(0.18)Total CIL

7 Total Planned Capacity: 2.78 Mty

* Kumbharkhani (0.18) contract expired in July 12 At present, two type of the bidding routes, namely “Risk-gain sharing basis” and

“Hiring basis” are being followed for deployment of CMs. Excepting Pinuara and Rani Atari in SECL, all other Continuous Miners have been deployed on the basis of “Risk-gain sharing basis”.

Also, 19 Underground Projects with Continuous Miner Technology with a total capacity of 11.69 Mty have been approved as listed below in Table 8–

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Table-8

SubsidiaryCompany

No. ofMines

Name of Mines (Capacity, Mty)

ECL 2 Jhanjra 2nd CM(0.51); Kottadih(0.42)BCCL 1 Block-II(0.45)CCL 3 Chiri-Benti(0.84); Parej East(0.51); Piparwar-

Mangardaha(0.61)WCL 5 Dhankasa(0.91), Jamunia(0.45), Saoner-I(0.45),

Tawa-II(0.36) & Gandhigram(0.78)SECL 5 Churcha Re-organisation(1.02), Khairaha(0.49),

Haldibari(0.30), Ketki(0.30) & Vijay (West)(0.30)MCL 3 Talcher (West)(1.42), Natraj(1.15); Hirakhand

Bundia Incline(0.42)Total CIL 19 Total Planned Capacity: 11.69 Mty

Identified list of mines/ projects where Continuous Miner can be deployed on hiring basis (potential blocks but further study is needed prior to finalisation) are -

Table 9

SubsidiaryCompany

No. of possible CMs

Name of Mines (Capacity, Mty)

ECL 2 Rangamati ‘B’ ( Kanchanpur Sector)BCCL 4 Godhar ( Kusunda Area), AKW MC (Katras

Area), Phularitand ( Barora Area) & Akash Kinari (Gobindpur Area)

CCL 2 Kalyani (Dhori Area)Mandu ( Hazaribag Area)

Total CIL 8

Work orders have already been issued to MDOs to operate five mines (Jhanjra in ECL, Kapuria, Moonidih (both XV & XVI seam), and Muraidih in BCCL) by longwall technology. Likely capacity addition from these mines will be around 8.9 Mty. Several such mines are in pipe line.

Table-10Sub. Company Name of the Mines Capacity (Mty)

BCCL Moonidih XVI 0.7BCCL Moonidih XV 2.5BCCL Kapuria 2.0BCCL Muraidih 2.0ECL Jhanjra 1.7

Total 8.9 Efforts are also being made to identify suitable prospective sites for application of

Highwall Mining which is a mining method to extract coal from an exposed coal seam at the terminating line of an opencast mine. Coal is extracted by driving a series of parallel entries from the high wall up to a significant depth within the coal horizon. This technology allows recovery of coal blocked in the batter in opencast projects. At present, this technology has been implemented in Sharda Opencast project of SECL.

Geo-mining condition of Indian coal deposits has been the major reason responsible for this lacklustre performance in coal production from UG mines. Apart from the successful

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implementation of the aforesaid actions by CIL, a deeper assessment needs to be made in finalisation of the strategies which may include the following points – Planning of all new mines with higher degree of mechanisation i.e. with Longwall, Cont.

Miners, etc. wherever applicable. Preparation and adherence to Time-bound technology plan including introduction of new

technology to improve productivity. Preparation of road map with engagement of MDOs. Separate cadre in CIL for Underground mining with attractive avenues to motivate for

performance. Preparation of Infrastructure development plan including prioritisation of construction of

rail/road/railway siding and faster development of infrastructure for UG mines. Creation of machinery manufacturing facilities to support mechanisation.

3.1.5 ENHANCING COAL EVACUATION CAPACITY THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTInfrastructure development (rail, road & power) in coalfields, particularly in new emerging coalfields, though call for considerable investment, is essential to augment the evacuation capacity of coal from its existing level. Necessity of establishing and expanding the infrastructure facilities (rail, road and power) in new emerging coalfields like IB Valley, Talcher, Mand Raigarh and North Karanpura coalfields can be established from the future production assessment from these coalfields as indicated below (source Masterplans prepared in 2010) –

Particulars CIL Non-CIL / Captive TotalNORTH KARANPURA COALFIELD

No. of blocks 26 20 46Capacity (Mty) 110.0 97.5 207.5

Existing Production (Mty) 23.17 0 23.17Future Production (Mty) 86.83 97.5 184.33

MAND RAIGARH COALFIELD

No. of blocks 41 23 64

Capacity (Mty) 86.0 5.0* 91.0

Existing Production (Mty) 4.44 0* 4.44

Future Production (Mty) 86.0 5.0* 91.0

TALCHER COALFIELD

No. of blocks 33 31 64Capacity (Mty) 156.89 227.70 384.59

Existing Production (Mty) 59.74 - 59.74Future Production (Mty) 152.32 196.56 348.88

IB-VALLEY COALFIELD

No. of blocks 23 18 41Capacity (Mty) 138.77 74.65 213.42Existing Production (Mty) 44.34 0.50* 44.84

Future Production (Mty) 118.19 73.50 191.69

As per the Master Plan of North Karanpura coalfield, construction of railway lines and electric power arrangement will require about Rs. 2500 crore of investment. Similarly, as per the Master Plan of Ib Valley coalfield, establishing rail network for MCL projects will require about Rs. 470 crores. Considering the necessity of infrastructure development in the coalfields in entirety, there needs to be a mechanism of joint sharing of the investment requirement in these infrastructures between CIL and the existing and future captive

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producers. There may be a case where CIL can invest initially and which may be shared at later stage by other users including captive parties.

3.2 OTHER STEPS INCLUDING POLICY INITIATIVES BY THE GOVERNMENT

In order to maximize production of coal, the various limiting factors, deterrent to increasing production and severely faced by the coal sector, need to be addressed by the Government. The Government has to take certain initiatives in this regard. The issues are :

3.2.1 LABOUR LAWS

Coal mining sector should be allowed to have exemption from provisions u/s 10 of Contract

Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act 1970 (Prohibition of employment of contract labour).

3.2.2 LAND AND R&R

Land acquisition is proving to be one of the major hurdles in starting coal mining projects and expansion of the existing ones. It is mainly due to this reason that CIL is unable to plan major enhancement of coal production. Shifting of people from places where land has already been acquired is also one of the hurdles for enhancement of coal production.

Actions need to be taken by the Govt. for constitution of Task force in the concerned State Government Secretariat to help the companies in acquisition of land. This Task Force may be headed by the Chief Secretary of the State with members from Environment and Forest Deptt., higher officials from concerned subsidiary companies with representatives from Ministry of Power and Ministry of Coal.

Additionally, enactment of central legislation is required to prevent habitation over endangered coal bearing areas and establishing suitable authority. Construction over coal bearing areas should be prohibited once notification under section 4(i) of CBA is made in place of section 7.

Additionally, the following may be suggested to streamline the land and R&R problems - .

Identification of Project affected families (PAFs) at the time of project conceptualization stage itself for timely action.

Identification of R&R site, providing adequate infrastructure and suitable amenities before land acquisition.

Continuous dialogue with PAFs with an objective to identify their actual requirement by involving the village panchayats and State Govt. authorities. Accordingly the actions are to be taken.

Ownership verification with family tree jointly by mining companies and state district authorities.

Finalization of PAFs and display of the list on the notice board and website. Categorization of PAFs as per their entitlement in terms of the agreed policy. Free shifting of belongings of PAFs for smooth acquisition & land possession. Maintenance of updated & correct land records by State Land & Revenue Department. Suitable compensation to the affected persons for ensuring reasonable regular income for

sustenance and livelihood in terms of National Land Acquisition and R&R Bill, 2011or any other approved policy.

Strengthening of land and R&R Department at all levels of CIL for timely action and follow up with State authorities.

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3.2.3 ENVIRONMENT CLEARANCE (EC) AND FORST CLEARANCE (FC)

The EC process takes about 14 months excluding the time consumed in Public Consultation process. Main reasons for delay in EC as observed are -

Obtaining ToR from MOEF for each and every proposal specially when more than 86% conditions are common for OCP & U/G mines. Thereby leading to repeatation of the process.

Delayed Public Hearing and issuance of PH proceedings by SPCB. The time limit prescribed for public consultation/hearing, including receipt of proceedings, is although 45 days but the time taken is much more and in some cases, it is even more than 2-3 years.

Linking of EC with FC.

SUGGESTED MEASURES FOR EXPEDITIOUS EC PROCESS :

Standard ToR for OC and UG mines should be circulated by MoEF so that baseline data generation and preparation of EIA/EMP is taken up without going in for ToR presentation at MoEF and obtaining ToR .

Dispensation of public hearing in case of projects already having EC and fresh EC is required because of increase in production only without involving any increase in land area).

Dispensation of public hearing in case of projects having only forest land. Dispensation of public hearing in case of UG projects as there is negligible environment

degradation. If SBCB does not complete PH process within stipulated time, MoEF should accept the

EIA/EMP for EC. The EC may however be accorded only after the recommendation of SPCB thorough PH proceedings.

Delinking of EC with FC as long as no forest land is used for mining and mining related activities.

Coalfield wise EC so that the excess production by any project does not attract the requirement of fresh EC as long as the combined production is within the EC capacity.

SUGGESTED MEASURES FOR EXPEDITIOUS FC

Once the FC application is received by the State Forest authority from the project proponent, all the deficiencies in the application should be informed to the applicant at a time preferably within 2-3 days. The process of the scrutiny should be very transparent so as to avoid and identify the delay and also to pin point the responsibility. The deficiencies should be resolved by mutual discussion within 15 days.

State should maintain the correct and updated record of the forest land to avoid resubmission.

State should ensure its recommendations to MoEF in a time bound framework as per Forest (Conservation) Rules.

After the stage -1 clearance is accorded, the proponent should be allowed to start the activities and the forest land should be transferred once the required payments towards NPV, compensatory afforestation is made by the coal companies to the concerned State Government.

Strengthening of land and R&R Department at all levels of CIL for timely action and follow up with State authorities.

4.0 CONCLUSION

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From the above, it can be construed that the appetite for energy in the world is growing,

particularly in developing countries like India, as it is fast on course to industrialization and

urbanization. Onus of fulfilling the coal supply requirement of the country primarily rests on

CIL. CIL is likely to remain as a dominant player in Indian coal industry in foreseeable

future also. In order to restrict the gap between demand and indigenous coal availability to

further rise, the extent possible, in coming years, CIL has no option but to raise its

production level to a great extent by every means. Coal production can not be started

without possession of land, solving R&R problems, getting Environmental and Forestry

clearances as well as addressing the coal evacuation problems. Additionally, issues like

faster exploration requirement including drilling capacity augmentation, enhancing pace of

projectisation for existing and new coal blocks(out of 119 nos.), emphasis on coal

production from underground mines, etc., are required to be addressed by CIL for stepping

up its production.

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The views expressed in this paper are those of the author only and not necessarily of CMPDI.