Union Minister of Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi assured the country that even during the coming monsoon season there will be no shortage of coal. India’s coal sector is fully prepared to meet the enhanced domestic demand of our fast growing economy, he stated.

Addressing a high level Conference & Exhibition on the theme “Underground Coal Mining – Way Forward for Sustainable Energy Security”, organized by Coal India Limited (CIL), Ministry of Coal here today, Shri Pralhad Joshi urged CIL to emerge as coal exporter in the next  2-3 years. The Minister complemented Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries for achieving record coal production and said that sustainable mining needs to be ensured while working towards Aatmanirbhar India in coal sector. Shri Joshi urged to ensure safety in coal mines with utmost priority while focusing on stepped up production.

Even as the world economy is going through a slowdown, India has emerged as a bright spot as one of the fastest growing economies globally, the Minister pointed out. Shri Joshi further stated that internationally India’s credibility has increased substantially in the recent years and the country has emerged as world’s factory. He called upon the coal sector to devise suitable action plans to meet the growing energy requirements of the country in coming years. The Minister appreciated the new initiatives and reforms undertaken by the Coal Ministry to enhance commercial coal mining. 87 coal blocks have been successfully auctioned under commercial auction and some of them have already started production, he said. Shri Joshi stated that deliberation on new strategies to enhance coal production form underground mines is a step in the right direction.

After releasing the underground coal mining vision plan of CIL, Shri Joshi gave away “Coal Minister’s Award” for best performing subsidiaries of CIL in different categories like safety, production, sustainability, quality and ERP. The Minister also desired that a separate award for innovation may be introduced. Earlier, the Minister inaugurated a special exhibition organized as part of the conference.

In his address, Secretary, Ministry of Coal Shri Amrit Lal Meena underlined the importance of attracting more private sector firms into coal mining. He said that compared to pre-covid period coal import has come down considerably. Shri Meena complemented the coal warriors for ensuring record production and off take while ensuring safety. Underground mining needs to be further promoted along with coking coal mission, the Secretary added.

Welcoming the participants to the strategically important conference, Shri Pramod Agrawal , CMD Coal India Limited pointed out that India’s record coal production has paved the way for declining coal price in the global market. Limited impact on environment including the forest cover and superior quality of coal are some of the main advantages of underground mining, he added.

Addressing the function Shri M Nagaraju, Additional Secretary and Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal said that by 2035 – 40 India’s coal requirement can go up to two billion tonne. Introduction of new technology, attracting private sector, ensuring sustainability etc. are important factors while focusing on underground mining, he said.

The objective of the conference is to focus on indigenous technology towards an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat in coal sector for sustainable coal production. Achievement of these targets can be possible only through the concerted efforts & endeavours of every stakeholders, technology provider, equipment manufacturer and implementing agencies. Therefore, the stakeholders play a very important role for strategizing future mining activities.         

In this background, the conference provided a forum to promote advanced techno-scientific cooperation towards achieving the goal of the country. The Conference became the right platform to the stakeholders to interact on latest technology, which will benefit Mining Communities as a whole.

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RKP