HYDERABAD: The Union Ministry of Mines is expecting 150 per cent growth in coal production 10 years down the line as a result of coal reforms that had been ushered in. The Ministry is expecting to produce 1510 million tonnes in 2029-2030 as against the actual production of 778 million tonnes in 2021-2022.
To achieve this, the Mines Ministry has set a target of producing 1000 million tonnes to Coal India Limited, and 80 million tonnes to Singareni Collieries Company Limited by 2025. The Ministry said that the Captive and other coal blocks are expected to produce 224 million tonnes by 2025.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Mines focused on the exploration of specific minerals and asked the State governments to effectively utilise the funds marked for the exploration of new mining sites and auctions. The minerals such as copper, tellurium, selenium, lead, zinc, cadmium, indium, gold, silver, diamond, rock phosphate, apatite, potash, critical and strategic minerals. According to data made available by the Mines Ministry, the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) has collected Rs 4,015.05 crore, approved projects worth Rs 1,829.45 crores and incurred an expenditure of Rs 513.85 from the financial year 2015-16 to last August on various projects.
The approved projects include in the category of 21 baseline surveys with Rs 1126.47 crores, 213 mineral exploration projects with Rs 665.55 crores and financial assistance for procurement of machinery with Rs 37.43 crores. Out of these, as many as 132 projects have been completed.