CIL to take up 120 projects in the 11th Plan period

Kolkata, Dec 27 (UNI) Coal India Limited (CIL) is planning to take up 120 projects with an ultimate capacity of 240 million tonnes during the Eleventh Plan period to contribute 70 million tonnes in 2011-12.

Company sources said here today that with technology updating and other mechanisation, production could be augmented to meet the country's increasing coal demand.

Faced with the task of achieving highest-ever growth rate of 43 per cent in production during the Eleventh Plan as compared to 30 per cent in the current Plan, Coal India Ltd (CIL) has finalised a strategy which envisages, among other things, complete outsourcing of all operations in the new mines.

Sources said that during the Eleventh Plan, beginning in 2007, CIL would have to achieve a production growth of 157 million tonnes as compared to 84 million tonnes growth in the Tenth Plan ending in 2006-07.

CIL has planned to mechanise all its underground mines by 2017 and go for mass production technologies. In 2006-07, the underground mines are set to produce about 46.27 million tonnes, which would increase to 54.6 million tonnes in 2010-11. The production from opencast mines is targetted to increase to 465.9 million tonnes from 317.5 million tonnes over the same period.

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