India’s coal sector is fully prepared to meet enhanced domestic demand of our fast-growing economy: Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi: Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi has assured that even during the coming monsoon season there will be no shortage of coal. He said, India’s coal sector is fully prepared to meet the enhanced domestic demand of our fast-growing economy.

Addressing a high-level conference on the theme Underground Coal Mining - Way Forward for Sustainable Energy Security in New Delhi yesterday, Mr Joshi urged Coal India Limited to emerge as a coal exporter in the next  2-3 years. He complemented Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries for achieving record coal production and said that sustainable mining needs to be ensured while working towards Aatmanirbhar India in the coal sector. 

The Minister urged to ensure safety in coal mines with utmost priority while focusing on stepped-up production. He said, even as the world economy is going through a slowdown, India has emerged as a bright spot as one of the fastest-growing economies globally.

Mr Joshi stated that internationally India’s credibility has increased substantially in recent years and the country has emerged as world’s factory. He called upon the coal sector to devise suitable action plans to meet the growing energy requirements of the country in coming years. The Minister appreciated the new



initiatives and reforms undertaken by the Coal Ministry to enhance commercial coal mining.

He said, 87 coal blocks have been successfully auctioned under commercial auction and some of them have already started production. Mr Joshi stated that deliberation on new strategies to enhance coal production form underground mines is a step in the right direction.

 

After releasing the underground coal mining vision plan of Coal India Limited, Mr Joshi gave away Coal Minister’s Award for best-performing subsidiaries of Coal India Limited in different categories like safety, production, sustainability, quality, and ERP. The Minister also desired that a separate award for innovation may be introduced.

 

Earlier, the Minister inaugurated a special exhibition organized as part of the conference.

 

In his address, Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena underlined the importance of attracting more private sector firms into coal mining. He said that compared to pre-covid period coal import has come down considerably. Mr Meena complemented the coal warriors for ensuring record production and off-take while ensuring safety. He said, underground mining needs to be further promoted along with coking coal missions.