Goyal lists steps taken to raise coal output

 New Delhi, July 17 (IANS): The government has taken various steps, including expediting environment and land acquisition clearances, to improve the country’s coal production, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

"The government had taken steps to improve coal production which include efforts to expedite environment and forest clearances, pursuing with state governments for help in expediting land acquisition and coordinated effort with the railways for the movement of coal," Goyal said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

There are adequate coal resources to meet the demand, the minister added.

Goyal furthur informed that state-miner Coal India and its subsidiaries are augmenting production by various steps, which include capacity addition from new projects, use of mass production technologies and stringent monitoring of the development of coal blocks.

The government has constituted a new Inter-Ministerial Task Force to undertake a comprehensive review of existing coal sources and consider the feasibility of rationalising linkages.

This group will review the existing sources and consider the rationalisation of linkages from these sources with a view to reduce transportation costs for power utilities, cement, steel and the sponge iron sectors, Goyal said. 

The total estimated quantum of coal resources in the country is 301.56 billion tonnes, while the coal extracted during 2013-14 was 565.64 million tonnes.

The minister also said Coal India and its subsidiaries are taking corrective measures for improving the quality of coal.

A revised mechanism for third party sampling of coal is being put in place by Coal India to make it more transparent and acceptable to the consumers, the minister added.