Idea mooted: Pit-head thermal plant
Thermal coal import will stop from Financial Year 2023-24 while a pithead thermal plant idea has been mooted at local mines, said Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi.
He spoke at the “Chintan Shivir”, a two-day brainstorming session organized to find a way forward for the coal sector. It as held at Kevadia in Gujarat on 17-18 Feb 2020.
“The Shivir has engaged the participants in contemplating and deliberating to think out of the box to overcome various bottlenecks and provide innovative solutions to the Indian coal sector,” Pralhad Joshi said while interacting with the media on the sidelines of the Shivir.
Highlighting key takeaways of the Shivir, the Minister said that various ways and means were discussed with key stakeholders to achieve one billion tonnes (BT) coal production target by Coal India Limited (CIL) by Financial Year 2023-24.
The Coal Ministry will coordinate with Indian Railways and Shipping Ministry and enable CIL, Captive and Commercial Miners evacuate more coal by 2030.
Stressing upon the diversification in the Indian Coal sector, the Minister said that ideas have also been mooted that CIL could think of coming up with the state-of-the-art pithead thermal power plants to transform it into an integrated energy company.
It was also proposed that CIL could generate 5 GW of solar power by FY 2023-24 and diversify into coal gasification with a target of 50 million tonnes by 2030 enabling a sustainable energy mix for the country.
All these ideas will be deliberated, studied and examined for their feasibility in detail and based on that, they could be implemented.
The Minister further stated that drilling agencies like Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) should benchmark their operations to global standards by digitizing their databases. He added that it will enable better utilization in years to come.
During the two-day Shivir, strategies were evolved for sustainable mining, environmental conservation, use of clean coal technologies and for extending helping hand to all stakeholders in and around coal mining areas to coexist in a mutually sustainable manner. fiinews.com
