R Krishna Das
Raipur, October 13
Inspecting three mega coal mines, interacting face-to-face with the field staff and chairing a marathon review meeting on a single day was not a usual routine for Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi.
But Joshi made it possible. Sensing the seriousness of the coal shortage, the Minister landed in the fields for the fuel. The day was hectic but at the end, Joshi could heave a sigh of some relief as his tiring tour would certainly yield the results. After all, he had propelled the team at South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL)—considered as the country’s largest coal producing company and operating Asia’s biggest open cast coal mine.
The Minister today morning landed in Bilaspur—about 210 km from Chhattisgarh capital. He was supposed to fly in a chopper to mines located in Korba, some 120 km from Bilaspur. As the chopper was not available on time, Joshi preferred not to waste time and took the road journey to reach Korba. Besides senior officials of the coal ministry, Coal India Limited Chairman Pramod Agrawal and SECL CMD A K Panda accompanied the Minister.
Joshi visited Dipka, Gevra and Kusmunda coal mines in Korba. The three are considered to be the biggest open cast mines; Gevra is Asia’s largest coal mine. Of the SECL’s total output of over 150 million tonne, the three mines have the lion’s share. Joshi talked to the field officers, rushed to the loading plants and examined the stock position at the yards. During his discussion, Joshi ensured to address the issues that came up as hurdles in coal production.
He later held a review meeting with the officials of SECL. The senior officials of the Korba district administration represented the state government in the meeting that lasted till late in the evening.
The Minister decided to stay in Korba for the night before flying to Ranchi Thursday morning.
During his brief interaction with the reporter early in the day, Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi today said that Coal India had been fulfilling the fuel requirement of the country and there was no shortage of coal.
“I assure that for the power production in the country, coal supply will not be a problem,” Joshi, who landed in Bilaspur on an official visit, told reporters during a brief interaction. The Minister would be visiting the mega mines of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), the largest coal producing arm of the Coal India Limited (CIL), located in Korba district of Chhattisgarh.
Joshi said the coal ministry had been fulfilling the total requirement of coal needed for the power production. “As for today, 1.5 million tonne coal is required and we have already produced 2 million tonne,” the minister said, adding that the coal stock is constantly increasing.
