ROURKELA: Even as Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) is running against time to augment coal production, the company is in a hurry to operationalise its new Siarmal open cast project in Sundargarh district. The MCL has envisaged starting the project in Mahalaxmi area with 2 MTPA capacity to reach a peak production mark of 50 MTPA in the next 8-9 years.
Sources said it is unlikely that the project will be implemented by the end of this year. It would take another couple of months to obtain necessary government clearances and settle pending rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) disputes. This apart, claims of 29 tribals under Forest Rights Act, 2006 have not yet been settled.
For the project, MCL requires 2,290.2 hectare land of which 1,491.8h hectare is private and the rest is government and revenue forest land. The majority of R&R claims of the 2,562 affected families, including 1,504 scheduled tribes residing in Siarmal, Gopalpur, Jhupurunga, Tumulia, Ratansara and Kulda villages, have been settled.
During the project’s leasehold period, MCL targets to extract 1,547 million tonne coal. As per estimates of April 2015, the projected coal demand from Ib Valley Coalfields spread over Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts is set to rise to 120.56 MTPA by 2026-27.
With the coal mines in Jharsuguda reaching optimum utilisation levels, the MCL has chalked out an ambitious plan of extracting around 100 MTPA coal from Sundargarh in next few years for which, it has been working towards expansion of existing mines, open new mines and augmentation of infrastructure for evacuation of coal by rail and road. Sources said the operational Grajanbahal, Kulda and Basundhara mines in Sundargarh together produce 36.6 MTPA coal.