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State-owned Coal India's subsidiary NCL will soon start production of M-Sand, a material used for construction works. Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) will start production of M-Sand or Manufactured Sand for its Amlohri project in Madhya Pradesh, according to a coal ministry statement on Tuesday. M-Sand is artificial sand produced from crushing hard stones into small sand-sized angular shaped particles, washed and finely graded to be used as construction aggregate. It is an alternative to river sand for construction works. NCL is all set to start production of M-Sand and the move is aimed at maximising the utilisation of natural resources and minimising the adverse impact of mining. Eyeing business diversification while focusing on the ecological balance, the company has set up a sand manufacturing plant using its over burden as a raw material. This pro-environment move of the company will help in conserving river bed erosion and preserve aquatic ecosystems, as per the ...
State-owned CIL has earned revenue worth over Rs 1.52 lakh crore from coal sales in financial year 2021-22, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Coal India (CIL) earned revenue by selling 661.89 million tonnes of coal in the last fiscal year. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said the mahartana firm has garnered Rs 29,400 crore by selling 177.59 MT of coal in the April-June period of the ongoing financial year. The revenue figure of the first quarter of FY'23 is provisional, it added. While in FY'21, CIL earned Rs 1,26,786.13 crore from sale of coal, in FY'20 the figure stood at Rs 1,34,979.13 crore. In a bid to increase the revenues of the public sector companies operating in the coal space, the government has given them a go-ahead for diversifying into other sectors including renewable energy. The captive mine owners, other than atomic minerals, can sell up to 50 per cent of their annual mineral, including coal, in the open market after meeting t
The state-owned power utility PSPCL on Saturday said the cancellation of several trains because of the protests against the Centre's Agnipath scheme is impacting movement of coal for thermal plants. Those privy to the developments said the arrival of coal rakes has gone down from around 20 rakes a day to eight rakes per day. Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Baldev Singh Saran, said, "The cancellation of various trains due to the ongoing protests is definitely impacting the arrival of coal at five thermal power plants within the state." As per an official report, coal stock at the Goindwal thermal power plant is almost finished while it is in critical category at the Talwandi Sabo thermal power plant, which is left with stocks of less than four days. The situation is a little better at the Lehra and Rupnagar plants, which are left with 16 and 17 days of coal, respectively. The Rajpura thermal plant is having coal stock sufficient for
The country's coal production registered a rise of 33.88 per cent to 71.30 million tonnes (MT) in the month of May. Coal output in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal was 53.25 MT, as per provisional data of the Ministry of Coal. Of the top 37 coal producing mines, 23 produced more than 100 per cent, while the performance of 10 mines stood between 80 and 100 per cent, the ministry said. The thermal power generation went up by 26.18 per cent in May over the corresponding month of the previous fiscal. "The overall power generation in May 2022 has been 23.32 per cent higher than in April 2021 and 2.63 per cent higher than the power generated in April 2022," it said. Coal-based power generation dropped by 3.82 per cent to 98,609 million units (MU) in May against 1,02,529 MU in April 2022. However, total power generation increased to 1,40,059 MU in May against 1,36,465 MU in April 2022 on account of hydro and wind energy.
The railways spent more than Rs 150 crore in repairing around 2,000 damaged and dilapidated wagons over the last four months to augment coal movement to power plants, according to official data. It also said that around 9,982 such wagons were listed as damaged in January, the numbers of which reduced to 7,803 by May 2, with the railways managing to repair 2,179 wagons in time for the coal demand to peak in the country. Officials said it cost the national transporter around Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh to repair each wagon. Sources indicate that damage to wagons has become a cause of concern for the ministry since private contractors used by power plants to unload coal began substituting manual unloading with JCBs. "JCBs hit the interior of the wagons and damage them severely. While earlier, this unloading was done manually, now it is being done through JCBs which have resulted in a significant increase in the number of wagons that are damaged. We are repairing them at a fast pace and usi