LOK SABHA
The target of coal
production in the country for the year 2002-03 has been fixed
at 335.80 million tonnes by the Ministry of Coal.
The production
of coal in opencast mines and underground mines during 1999-2000,
2000-01, 2001-02 and upto December, 2002 respectively, year-wise
is shown below:
(In million tonnes)
|
Year
|
Opencast
|
Underground
|
|
1999-2000
|
237.27
|
66.82
|
|
2000-01
|
247.62
|
66.06
|
|
2001-02
|
262.97
|
64.81
|
|
Upto December,
2002 (Provisional)
|
191.29
|
51.42
|
Government
of India (vide Ministry of Environment & Forest notification)
has made it mandatory to use coal of ash content not exceeding
34 per cent in all power stations located 1000 Km away from
the supply sources or located in urban centres or critically
polluted area/fragile ecology area. Coal washeries are required
to be installed to meet this stipulation of Ministry of Environment
& Forest and to make it competitive against the imported
coal.
The following
steps are being taken to reduce the ash content of indigenous
coal:
- Adherence to the envisaged
mining sequence in the mining method itself;
- Adopting selective mining
in banded coal seams;
- Picking of over sized stones/boulders,
extraneous material etc;
- Keeping Over Burden benches
sufficiently advanced from the coal benches; and
- Washing/upgradation of coal
through coal beneficiation plants, thereby reducing the
ash content in beneficiated coal.
This information
was given by the Minister of Coal, Shri Kariya Munda, in a written
reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
