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India eyeing 1.5 bn tonnes Coal Production by 2030

Published: Jul 24, 2025

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 24, 2025: THE details of the coal production during the last three years are as under:

[Figures in Million Tonnes]

To promote environmental sustainability in coal mines in the country, various sustainable & environment friendly initiatives have been taken such as plantation/ bio-reclamation, mine water utilization for community use, development of eco-parks and adoption of energy efficiency measures.

Further, as per the provision of the Coal Mine/ Block Development and Production Agreement (CMDPA/CBDPA) executed with coal blocks allocattees, the successful bidders are required to use mechanized methods by adopting modern technologies for coal extraction, transport and evacuation in order to minimize carbon emissions, reduce environmental pollution, and promote sustainability following Good Industry Practice. The successful bidders are also encouraged to make necessary arrangements for mechanized loading and establishing First Mile Connectivity for transportation of coal from the pithead to reduce environmental pollution.

Ministry of Coal has set an ambitious domestic coal production target of about 1.5 BT (billion tonnes) by 2030.

The following activities have been undertaken by the coal companies to reduce carbon emissions from coal mines:

i. Creation of carbon sink through plantations.

ii. Restoration of degraded land.

iii. Adoption of clean coal technologies including extraction of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Coal Gasification.

iv. Minimizing road transportation and enhancing mechanized coal loading and transportation including First Mile Connectivity projects.

v. Implementing Energy Efficiency measures.

vi. Undertaking Renewable energy projects including solar, wind, pumped storage projects, geo-thermal, etc.

The following steps have been taken by the Government to increase coal production in the country:

i. Regular reviews by Ministry of Coal to expedite the development of coal blocks.

ii. Enactment of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 [MMDR Act] for enabling captive mine owners (other than atomic minerals) to sell up to 50% of their annual mineral (including coal) production in the open market after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine.

iii. Single Window Clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalization of coal mines.

iv. Project Management Unit (PMU) for hand-holding of coal block allottees for obtaining various approvals/ clearances for early operationalization of coal mines.

v. Auction of commercial mines on revenue sharing basis was launched in 2020. Under this scheme, rebate of 50 % on final offer has been allowed for the quantity of coal produced earlier than scheduled date of production. Further, incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction (rebate of 50% on final offer) have been granted.

vi. Terms and conditions of commercial coal mining are very liberal with no restriction on utilization of coal, allowing new companies to participate in the bidding process, reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against monthly payment, liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalize the coal mines, transparent bidding process, 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route and revenue sharing model based on the National Coal Index.

In addition to the above, coal companies have also taken the following steps to increase domestic coal production:

i. In its Underground (UG) mines, Coal India Limited (CIL) is adopting new and modern technologies like Mass Production Technologies (MPT) with the deployment of Continuous Miners (CMs), Longwall (LW) and Highwall (HW) wherever feasible.

ii. In its Opencast (OC) mines, CIL already has State-of-the-Art technology in its high-capacity Excavators and Dumpers, standardization of Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM), deployment of Surface Miners. Digital transformation has been implemented on pilot scale in 7 of its mega mines.

iii. Regular liaison is being undertaken by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) for grounding of new projects and operation of existing projects. SCCL has initiated action for developing infrastructure for evacuation of coal like Coal Handling Plants (CHPs), Crushers, Mobile Crushers, Pre-weigh-bins etc.

This information was given by Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.