The Government of India has set a target of producing 170 million tonnes of coal from captive and commercial coal blocks in the country during the financial year 2024-25. The target set is 26 percent more than the 116 metric tons produced in 2023-24. For Coal India Limited, the target of coal production from the mines of Coal India Limited in 2024-25 has been set at one billion tons.
Coal mines in india
- The coal sector in India was nationalized under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973.
- The Indian government-owned Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries had a monopoly on coal production in India. Later the Government of India allowed private sector participation in coal mining in India.
- Private sector participation in the coal sector can be divided into captive mining and commercial mining of coal.
Captive coal mines
- The Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 was amended in 1993, allowing private sector participation in captive coal mining.
- Coal mines were allotted to private companies for specific end uses.
Companies engaged in captive mining of coal have been allowed
- Iron and steel production
- Electricity production and
- Manufacturing of cement
- Commercial coal mines
The Government of India allowed private sector participation in the coal mining sector after the passage of the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act, 2020. Private companies are offered the coal blocks that they mine and can sell to any user in India.
Coal production by captive and commercial mines in 2023-24
According to the Union Coal Ministry the total production of coal by captive mines and commercial mines was 147.2 million tonnes. Of the 147.2 million tonnes of coal produced:
- Private sector mines produced about 121.3 million tonnes of coal.
- Captive mines in the non-energy sector produced 8.4 million tonnes of coal,
- Commercial mines produced 17.5 million tonnes of coal
India is the second largest producer of coal in the world after China. India has the fourth largest known coal reserves in the world.However, despite being the second largest producer of coal in the world, India also imports coal, especially coking coal used by steel industries and thermal grade coal used by the power sector.According to the Government of India, coal imports increased to 244.27 million tonnes in the period April-February 2023-24 from 227.93 million tonnes during the same period last year.