Coal India Aiming to Be World’s Most-Efficient CoalMiner

Coal India Ltd, world’s largest miner is aspiring to be the “most-efficient” coal producer, with an aim to bring down costs to a “bare minimum” level as the sector opens up for commercial mining. Currently, they are the world’s largest coal producer but now they are aiming to be the most-efficient coal miner. Managing Director Anil Kumar Jha, acknowledged that it would be difficult due to the socio-economic situation of India compared with some of the efficient coal players like Australia. “Our socio-economic situation is different. When we open a mine, there is a huge demand for employment. The land losers want nothing but employment. Despite this, MCL (Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd) pays compensation of Rs 16 lakh in lieu of employment, but villagers demand employment,” he said. A top CIL official said that the mining major is striving to bring down the cost of production to a bare minimum, but added that he would require some time to prepare a roadmap towards these goals without compromising on social factors. Jha said he had already approved opening of price bids for ERP implementation, which was delayed for quite a few months. He also asserted that no power plant will suffer due to shortage of coal.