Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) is planning to expand three open-cast mining projects in the ongoing financial year. Of the company’s 10 open-cast mining projects in operation, seven are completed mining projects and three are ongoing mining projects.
“Three new/expansion OCPs (open cast projects) have been planned to be taken up in the year 2020-21,” they said.
NCL added that the projects are Jhingurdah Bottom OCP, Khadia Expansion OCP and Nigahi Expansion OCP. One greenfield open-cast mining project, Semaria OCP, has been approved by NCL’s board in May 2019.
Statutory clearances for the project, it said, are under process and production from the mine is expected to commence from 2022-23, it said.
It further said two OCPs of NCL have been approved in 2019-20. NCL produced 108.05 million tonnes of coal in 2019-20, against the target of 106.25 MT with a growth of 6.45% over the previous year. Coal India Ltd (CIL) accounts for over 80% of domestic coal output.
