Eastern coalfields Ltd (ECL), the company that operates the oldest coalfield in the country, is in for a makeover that seeks to raise output and respond to sectoral dynamics which have ensured the entry of the private sector into commercial mining. A unit of the state-owned Coal India Ltd, ECL has undertaken a host of measures to mechanise its operations and usher in a new work culture, investing almost Rs 2,000 crore as part of the modernisation programme. For those who didn’t know, coal was first mined in India at the company’s Raniganj coalfield in 1774. It is also the mine acquired by Dwarkanath Tagore, the grandfather of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, in 1832.
While its performance in the ongoing fiscal has been impacted due to excessive rain and other issues, FY19 saw ECL reach several milestones. It achieved 107% of the output target it had set for the year, surpassing the 50-MT mark, a first in its long history. Its Jhanjra project mined 3.4 MT of coal, which represented the highest output from an underground mine in the country in FY19. The company also performed better than CIL’s other subsidiaries on the main operational parameters, with coal production, offtake and removal of over-burden growing 15.1%, 15.6% and 6%, respectively. In December 2019, it bettered its past record on overburden removal with a figure of 14.6 cubic metre.
As against FY20’s production target of 53.5 MT, ECL has mined 43.9 MT of coal in the first eleven months of the fiscal. Excessive rain, law and order issues at some major mines and strikes after the Centre’s decision in February 2019 to ease mining norms for private companies are behind the fall in output, as has been witnessed by other CIL subsidiaries. Productivity has been also been impacted by issues relating to land acquisition and tendering of contracts. Pilferage is another challenge being confronted by the company. “We face serious safety risks owing to illegal mining at our sites,” Prem Sagar Mishra, chairman and managing director of ECL, tells FE.
To ramp up production at a time of growing demand for coal, the company is deploying continuous miners that would allow its underground operations to be mechanised. As part of the growth agenda, the production capacity of its Jhanjra mines would be raised from 3.5 MTPA to 5 MTPA. The company has also received the necessary environmental clearance to increase output at the open cast Rajmahal project from 19 MTPA to 23.8 MTPA. Work on a coal handling plant and a siding unit that would raise the capacity of the Sonpur Bazari mines to 12 MTPA is nearly complete. And work on the 3-MTPA Nakrakonda-Kumardih-B open cast project is expected to start soon, with a capital investment of Rs 503 crore being approved for the purpose in FY19. A capital outlay of Rs 535 crore and Rs 917 crore has also been sanctioned for the 2.3-MTPA Siduli and 1.9 MTPA Talboni projects, respectively.
For diversification of the product basket, ECL is planning to get into the extraction of coal bed methane (CBM), with its board approving CBM extraction at the Satgram, Kunustoria and Sripur sites. “A team from Poland is expected here to help us move forward,” Mishra says. “We are also looking at surface coal gasification and other alternative coal usage,” he adds. To refurbish its public image and improve the work culture, ECL has launched a number of initiatives. Among these are Mission SuDESHH for sustainable development, safety and hygiene, Mission Sanjibani for new jobs, Mission Sumit for technological upgrade, Mission Sambandh to ease land acquisition and rehabilitation of affected communities and Mission Mitawa for proper upkeep of equipment and heavy machinery.