Coal India to close down 23 unviable mines

    Kolkata, Jun 15 (PTI) Coal India Limited has decided
to close down 23 unviable mines and it would help save the
company around Rs 500 crore considering all costs, officials
said on Tuesday.
    The worlds largest miner has shut down 82 such mines
in the last three-four years.
    Those 23 mines, comprising open cast and underground
ones, to be closed down were identified in the last fiscal,
officials said.
    Underground mines are a major focus for closures as
they are not remunerative. Some 158 underground mines employ
43 per cent of the workforce but contribute only 5 per cent of
the total production, they said.
    "Action is being taken to close the unviable mines in
CIL in a phased manner. Production from 11 such underground
mines has already been suspended," an official said.
    The dry fuel major was also engaging Mine Developer
and Operator (MDOs) in greenfield projects.
    It plans to engage MDOs for 15 projects - 10 open cast
and 5 underground - with a combined total targeted capacity of
about 160 million tonne per year (MTY), officials said.
    Out of the 15 projects, work order has been issued for
two of 45 MTY. The remaining projects are at various stages of
tendering and approval, they said.
    Meanwhile, in FY21, the net realisation per tonne of
coal was lower at Rs 1,442 against Rs 1,538 a tonne in FY20.
The officials attributed to lower sales in e-auction and
subdued price due to lockdown disruptions. PTI BSM
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)