SCCL gets Centre’s nod for Longwall project
The Union Government has approved the Adriyala Shaft (Longwall) project of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd at Godavarikhani in Karimnagar district. The project, which is estimated to cost Rs 846.06 crore and commence production by September 2011, will have a coal production capacity of 2.81 million tonnes per year.
Speaking to reporters here today, SCCL Chairman and Managing Director S Narsing Rao said that the Longwall project would have state-of-the-art technology and the latest in the country. “In conventional mining the average
daily coal production is just 1,200 tonnes but the Longwall technology will help produce 10,000 tonnes of coal daily,’’ he said and assured that both workers’ safety would be ensured in the new method.
The project has the distinction of being the highest capital investment in the mining projects of the company so far. It will also be the single largest underground mine in terms of coal production capacity. The The project will
need 810 men and have an output per man shfit of 14.92 tonnes. If hand section is involved the project requires around 24,000 workmen.
The cost of production at 100 per cent performance level will be about 863 per tonne, yielding a 17.31 per cent internal rate of return.
Funds to the tune of Rs 632.85 crore will be raised by internal resources and the balance of Rs 132.28 crore will be raised by the company in the form of loans. Narsing Rao said that the company had the highest
growth rate of 12.84 per cent this year against an average of 8 per cent of all the coal companies in the country. It may be noted that the SCCL had started machanised Longwall mining way back in 1983 and procured 10 sets
of equipment.
It is estimated that the country will need about 620 million tonnes of coal at the end of the 11th Plan period and is likely to import 55 million tonnes. Unless suitable safe bulk production underground technologies are adopted,
it will not be possible to ensure affordable availability of thermal power in the region in the long term. Narsing Rao said there were no open-cast mines in the pipeline. The Ramakrishnapur open-cast mine was the last to be approved by the SCCL, Narsing Rao said and added that seven underground mines were in the pipeline, which would be completed in the next four years.