Amrit Lal Meena, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India, speaking at the inaugural session of the 10th Asian Mining Congress (AMC), stated that the energy security of the nation is paramount and that despite the push towards renewables, coal is here to stay. He congratulated the entire coal sector for the remarkable growth of 14% in coal production in the last fiscal. He stressed the need to adopt sustainable mining methods and use modern technology in the mining sector. The AMC is being hosted by the Mining Geological & Metallurgical Institute of India (MGMI) and is being held in Kolkata from 6th to 9th November, 2023.
P. M. Prasad, Chairman, Coal India, emphasized the vital role of technology and innovation in enhancing coal production. He elaborated on the digitization of mines undertaken by CIL. He further underlined the potential of underground mining to meet sustainability goals, mentioning CIL’s plans to achieve a coal production target of 100 million tonnes through underground mining by FY’30. Chairman CIL also stated that the mine closure undertaken by CIL follows a systematic and scientific approach, and highlighted CIL’s commitment to restore the natural landscape once mining operations are complete.
Dr. B. Veera Reddy, Director (Technical), CIL /CMD CCL and President, MGMI during his welcome address stated that Coal India breached the 700MT production mark for the first time in FY 2023 recording a growth of 13%. He further stated that in the current year till 5th November, production growth is 12% till 5th November, which is higher than the annual asking rate of 11%, so CIL is confident of meeting the targets set for this year.
Dr. Janardan Prasad, Director General, Geological Survey of India, Ms. Rowan Ainsworth, Consul-General, Australian Consulate in Kolkata, Vinay Ranjan, Director (P&IR), CIL, Shri Debasish Nanda, Director (Business Development), CIL, Brajesh Kumar Tripathy, Chief Vigilance Officer, CIL, CMDs of CIL subsidiaries and senior management of CIL and its subsidiaries were present on the occasion.
