Union Coal and Railways Minister Mr Piyush Goyal on Monday stressed for increase in coal production and longterm planning to ensure adequate coal supply to consumers.
The Minister was on a daylong visit in Odisha to inspect mining operations in both the Ib Valley and Talcher Coalfields of MCL, which has an ambitious target of producing 162.5 million tonne coal during the current fiscal.
Goyal landed at Jharsuguda Airport and left for inspection of Samleshwari Open Cast Project in Ib Valley Coalfields where the concerned officers briefed the Minister on coal mining and supply operations.
Taking a note of low performance of the mines due to the delay in shifting of Ycurve siding, the Minister directed both MCL and Railways officials to take up this project on fast track so that production from mines does not hamper.
We need to review minewise, regarding coal dispatch capability of the mines, Mr Goyal said, while suggesting for long-term planning of 20 years to overcome bottlenecks and ensure adequate supplies to consumers.
The Minister, after his visit to Bhubneswari OCP and Ananta OCP under Jagannath Area in Talcher Coalfields, was hopeful of MCL achieving its production target.
He said given the potential, the MCL can exceed its target and Talcher coalfields alone can produce over 100 million tonnes.
The Minister, who was warmly welcomed by a large number of villagers and their representatives, including local MLA (Talcher), assured that the increase in the coal production from mines would directly benefit the district and also help the state to execute more developmental projects.
The Minister was accompanied by Mr Inderjit Singh, Secretary (Coal), Mr A K Jha, Chairman, Coal India, Mr R R Mishra, CMD, MCL and other senior officers of his Ministries and Coal India/MCL.
MCL, which had produced over 143 million tonne coal during financial year 2017-18, plans to produce a record 100 million tonne from Talcher coalfields in Angul district and 62.5 million tonne from Ib Valley Coalfields in Jharsuguda and Sundergarh districts.