Gainwell Engineering, the manufacturing venture of Gainwell Commosales Private Limited (formerly Tractors India Private Limited), has partnered with World Coal Association to promote sustainable coal mining in India. With this, Gainwell becomes only the second organisation in India to have partnered with World Coal Association.
According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, coal demand in India is projected in the range of 1.3-1.5 billion tonnes by 2030, an increase of 63% from current demand. The partnership is also aimed at reducing India’s dependency on import of coal mining equipment and instead, manufacture state of the art equipment locally to augment domestic production of coal in a sustainable manner. This will also help India reduce coal import bill and enable it to meet its energy security.
Coming from the stable of Gainwell Commosales which has a rich legacy of supporting infrastructural progress in India for nearly eight decades and the proud partner of Caterpillar Construction, Mining and Power Solutions in India, Gainwell Engineering has forayed into Coal Mining Equipment Manufacturing and is setting up a plant at Panagarh, West Bengal. With a philosophy of supporting India’s true infrastructural growth, Gainwell Engineering aims to end India’s dependence on imported equipment for underground mining, and leave a sustainable impact on the environment with the use of clean technology.
Coal still remains the largest source of energy in the world, and sustainable coal mining in India is the need of the hour. Commenting on the association, Michelle Manook, CEO, World Coal Association said “It is critical that countries like India and companies like Gainwell Engineering are leading the discussion on coal’s sustainable journey. We welcome the Gainwell Engineering management team who understand that as a cohesive coal value chain across multiple jurisdictions (including Australia, China, Russia, South Africa, United States), we will have the best chance to deliver on our global community’s collective economic development and environmental goals. For countries such as India, these ambitions are not mutually exclusive.”
Welcoming the WCA membership, Sunil Chaturvedi, Chairman, Gainwell Engineering said “While concerns over climate change and air pollution have highlighted the need to pursue a more sustainable path forward, no discussion of global climate change can ignore India, and no discussion of India’s energy future can ignore coal.
Coal remains the mainstay of energy security for India, but the country so far was entirely dependent on imported underground mining machinery for expanding its underground mining operations, especially coal. With our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Panagarh in West Bengal rapidly coming up, Gainwell Engineering will help India and other global geographies, not only mine their underground mineral resources far more sustainably but will also represent the end of India’s dependence on imported equipment for underground mining.”
World Coal Association endorses Responsible Coal Principles under the climate change situation, which are grounded by the principles of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Gainwell Engineering joining WCA gives impetus to India’s coal leadership.
The confluence of recent global energy events has ushered in a new reality that places issues of supply security and affordability back in the spotlight.
- According to the data released by the Ministry of Power, coal contributes to 51.6% of installed generation capacity in India’s energy mix; while hydropower, solar, wind, etc. contribute 38.5%.
- Also, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal is still the world’s largest, single source of electricity, powering 39% of the global electricity mix.
- In 2021, as per IEA, coal generation reached an all-time high at over 10 000 terawatt-hours (TWh). In industrial processes, coal demand rose 6% reaching close to the record levels of 2013 and 2014.
Climate Change and Air Pollution have been the areas of concern for many years now. Indian Govt. has announced an investment plan of $55Billion in clean coal over the coming decade, putting India at the forefront of the Coal industry at large.
Manook said, “WCA applauds India’s position towards the issue of phasing down of unabated coal as against phasing-out coal. Coal is still the world’s largest source of energy. Recent and current events reconfirm that coal is still needed and not in decline. Coal is not disappearing; it is simply transitioning to a more sustainable model. Every member of the coal value chain in every country can do something directly and/or indirectly to support the evolution of coal through clean technologies. We are all part of the solution.”
Gainwell Engineering and World Coal Association believes, India has already made a positive impact in resetting the climate change agenda and it has the capacity to truly revolutionise coal’s future.
The challenge and opportunity for ‘Indian Coal’ and the global coal value chain resides in embracing and guiding the world’s community to the numbers and the science. This education is based on communicating the irrefutable coal facts, including:
- Coal remains essential to electricity supply in more than 80 countries.
- Coal will play a role in mitigating the worst effects of poverty for the 800 million people who still have no access to heat, light, fuel for cooking, transportation, and other essential services as a basic human right.
- Coal remains the building block to economic success and is critical to the production of 90% of the world’s cement, 70% of global steel34, and more than 60% of the energy used to make aluminium.
- Steel, cement, and aluminium are intrinsic to the construction of renewables infrastructure. Every wind turbine that is constructed requires 170 tonnes of coking coal.
- The Paris Agreement was drafted with the understanding that the international community needed to move away from prescribed pathways and recognise the importance of respecting sovereign choices and timeframes.
- There is no 100% credible renewables scenario (IPCC).
- It will be 138% more expensive to achieve Paris without CCS/CCUS (IEA).
