Eleven captive and commercial coal mines to begin production in FY23: IEA
A total of 11 captive commercial mines are expected to start production in the current fiscal year ending in March 2023, with five blocks earmarked for the energy sector and two for steel production.
“By the end of FY23 (March 2023), a total of 48 commercial and sequestered mines will be commissioned and 11 new mines are expected to start up. Five of them are located in Jharkhand and will be earmarked for power production by companies such as NTPC, Damodar Valley Corporation and Punjab Electricity Board, And for steel production by JSW steel and Araanya, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest report.
For the current fiscal year, captive and commercial mines are expected to significantly raise production to around 140 million tons (metric tons). She added that in FY22, captive mines increased their production by about 30 percent year-on-year to a total of about 90 million tons.
Strategic pillar
The International Energy Agency noted that commercial mining is the third strategic pillar of the government to boost domestic coal production in India.
In November 2022, the Ministry of Coal launched the sixth round of commercial mine auctions, including 141 coal mines, of which 71 are new mines, 62 of which were not awarded in previous auctions and eight of which individual bids were received in 5 y auction. This is the largest coal mine auction to date.
“At this point, it is difficult to assess how quickly and aggressively production will increase in commercial mines from 2025. Vedanta has reported that it expects to start up, Radhikapur (West) from Odisha, a block awarded in November 2020,” the IEA report said. In the first auction during fiscal year 23.
increase production
According to the Ministry of Coal, production from captive and commercial blocks rose to 67.16 metric tons in the April-November period of fiscal year 23 from 50.49 million tons last year.
The ministry expects three coal mines to start production by March 2023, in addition to the three blocks that have already started operations during the fiscal year. The Coal Ministry hopes to produce more than 120 metric tons of captive and commercial coal blocks in FY23, with an increase of about 40 percent over the production of 85.32 metric tons in FY22.
Overall, the IEA expects that India’s domestic supply will continue to grow beyond 2025, in line with a steady increase in demand while seeking to reduce dependence on imports.
Total production will exceed 1,000 metric tons in 2025, totaling 1,021 metric tons. Almost all of the coal produced will be from thermal coal, which is mainly used for power generation. It added that Cool India (CIL) is expected to contribute significantly to the total domestic production.