Chattisgarh: The South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), an opencast coal mine situated in Gevra, Chhatisgarh, has become Asia’s largest mine to produce coal in Financial Year 2023, producing 50.28 million tonnes (MT), the latest data by Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) cited.
With an investment worth Rs 11,816.40 crore, mini Ratna PSU under Coal India Limited (CIL), now aims at making the Gevra coal mine the largest coal mine in the world within this financial year, said SECL’s Chief Managing Director (CMD) Prem Sagar Mishra while speaking to Moneycontrol.
To date, Rs 7,500 crore has been consumed by the expansion project.
“The total expansion plan for which we are seeking environmental clearance (EC) is 70 MT. Currently, the EC for Gevra mine is for 52.5 MT only. On June 6, we held a mega public hearing with the locals for the expansion plan. We hope the EC will come through in the next three months or so, after which we can begin with scaling up our coal production from the Gevra mine,” Mishra said.
What is the future goal?
Meanwhile, speaking about the plans, Mishra talked about how SECL has already set a target to produce 60 MT of coal in the financial year 2023.
North Antelope Rochelle Mine in the United States holds the title of the World’s largest mine, a report by CCO stated. In 2021, it produced 56.97 MT.
Cost of Production
The total cost of production for the Gevra Mine at 100 per cent operating level (70 MT) stands at Rs 566.02 per tonne, amounting to Rs 355.98 per cent at the calculated average selling price of Rs 922.00 per tonne. However, the internal rate at 100 per cent and 85 per cent level of production comes at 42.16 per cent and 28.45 per cent, the project report cited.
About the mine
For the Gevra expansion project to 70 MT per annum, 4781.798 hectares of land is required, whereas, the current informed area where operations are taking place right now is 4,100 hectares.
The expansion project will employ 4,391 persons. The quality of coal produced by the Gevra mine is G11 grade, having a gross calorific value of 4,000 which is power-grade coal.
Coal produced by this mine is used in coal-fired thermal power plants like those of NTPC and state power generating companies.
The mine of Gevra will be among the few mines in India to have first-mile connectivity, meaning the coal is through conveyor belts instead of trucks and is loaded in rakes through silos.
