Team News Riveting
Raipur, May 26
Sarda Energy and Minerals Limited (SEML), a flagship arm of Chhattisgarh-based Sarda Group, has received consent for production expansion in its Gare Palma IV/7 coal mine located in Raigarh district.
The company had won the coal mine under the Tranche I of commercial coal mine auctions held in November 2020. It has commenced operations at the coal mine in December 2021. SEML is using the mine for captive consumption as well as commercial sale.
“We are pleased to inform that the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board, Raipur has granted to the Company, the Consent to Establish cum Consent to Operate under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, for expansion in Gare Palma IV/7 – Karwahi Open Cast Coal Mine Project for increase in production capacity from 1.2 MTPA to 1.44 MTPA,” SEML said in a regulatory filing today.
The Gare Palma IV/7 coal mine is one of the 19 coal mines that were bid out under the Tranche I of commercial coal mine auctions in 2020. It has a geological reserve of 239.045 million tonnes (MT).
Aimed to increase the domestic production of coal, the government has opened the coal mining sector for private players. In addition, it has also allowed captive mines to sell up to 50 percent of the coal produced in a financial year in the open market.
India imports around 235 MT of coal annually despite having world’s fourth-largest coal reserves. Of the total shipping of dry fuel, around 135 MT can be met from domestic reserves.
