India has witnessed the highest ever coal production in the year 2023-24 at 997.828 million tonne (MT) provisional, said Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy. In the same year, the coal impot was 261.001 MT.

There is no shortage of coal in the country, he added.

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In 2022-23, the coal production was 893.191 MT while the import was 237.668 MT.

He also highlighted that steps are being taken to reduce occurrence of accidents in mines.

These steps include Preparation and implementation of Site Specific Risk Assessment based Safety Management Plans (SMPs); Preparation and implementation of Principal Hazards Management Plans (PHMPs); Formulation and compliance of Site-specific Risk Assessment based Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); Conducting Safety Audit of mines through multi-disciplinary Safety Audit teams; Adoption of the state-of-the art mechanism for Strata Management; and Monitoring of mine environment.

He also highlighted that specific safety measures were taken for OC the mines.

These include use of eco-friendly Surface Miners for blast free safe mining; Formulation and implementation of Mine-specific Traffic Rules; Training on Simulators to HEMM operators; Dumpers fitted with Proximity Warning Devices, Rear view mirrors and camera, Audio-Visual Alarm (AVA), Automatic Fire Detection & Suppression system etc.

It also included Ergonomically designed seats & AC Cabins for operators’ comfort; GPS based Operator Independent Truck Dispatch System (OITDS) and Geofencing in some large OCPs for tracking movement of HEMMs inside OC mine; and Lighting arrangement using high mast towers for increasing level ofillumination.