Northern Coalfields to surpass production target of 113.25 MT for 2020-21

New Delhi: Coal India-arm Northern Coalfields Ltd has said that it will easily achieve and surpass the production target of 113.25 million tonnes (MT) for the current fiscal. Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) CMD P K Sinha said that the company has set the new benchmarks in the field of production, productivity and integration of research and innovations. The PSU is firmly committed to the energy security ofthe nation.

Presently, NCL contributes about 15 per cent to the domestic coal production which is equivalent to more than 10 per cent of power generation of the country, the PSU said in a statement.

Sinha was addressing the third International Conference on Opencast Mining Technology and Sustainability (ICOMS-2020) on Friday.

He also said that as far as demand of domestic coal is concerned, it will increase in upcoming decades in order to bridge the gap between demand and supply of the dry-fuel, subsequent reduction in coal import of the country, improving the plant load factor (PLF) of existing thermal power plants (TPPs) and to feed upcoming new TPPs.

NCL is aiming 130 MT production by 2023-24 in order to contribute in one billion tonnes (BT) output target of Coal India and to make the country self-reliant in the coal sector, the company said.

With a planned road map, NCL is investing about Rs 7,000 crore to upgrade its infrastructure and amenities to boost the required production. This will also generate huge employment opportunities.

NCL is also working on nine first mile connectivity projects with investment of about Rs 2,700 crore to dispatch the coal through mechanised, digitalised and eco-friendly mode.

In the step diversification of its portfolio, NCL is in the final stage of establishing 50 mw solar power plant at Nigahi Project and has target of 280 mw solar power by FY 2023-24 to become net zero energy company.