Coal India Limited's coal output through opencast mines up 18.6 pc

Kolkata: Coal India Limited's (CIL) composite production, the sum total of overburden removal (OBR) and coal output through opencast mines, went up by a sharp 18.6 percent to 1,439.6 million cubic metres (McuM) ending December FY’23, compared to the year-ago same period, CIL sources said on Monday.

IBNS • 16 Jan 2023, 06:20 pm

This was 101 percent of the target achievement on progressive basis, they added.

The state-owned coal mining Maharatna excavated 1,154.2 McuM OBR till December of the current fiscal year, posting a 19.2 pc growth over a similar period last year and achieving 101 pc of the target.

CIL has also taken up manufacturing sand out of OB creating wealth from waste in an eco-friendly way. Presently, sand demand is met through sand mining and dredging from water courses of rivers which severely affects the ecosystem of rivers.

As an effort towards preserving the ecosystem, CIL has started an out-of-the-box initiative of segregating sand from overburden formations.

Three OB to sand conversion projects presently operated by CIL’s subsidiaries produced 16,643 CuM sand till Nov FY '23.

The company is unrolling plans to set up six more projects.

All nine plants aim to produce 30 Lakh CuM sand annually once fully operational.

This makes manufactured sand available at cheaper rates and in an eco-friendly manner. The move also helps improve the riverine ecosystem, they added.