Coal miners spent Rs 3,000 cr on progressive mine closure in 3 years: Official

About Rs 3,000 crore was spent during the last three years by coal mine operators on progressive mine closure in the country due to the efficient work by the Coal Controller, said a senior official on Friday.

Addressing the Indian National Committee of the World Mining Congress (INC WMC) here, V L Kantha Rao, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, also said that when it comes to the non-coal sector, the Controller General of the Indian Bureau of Mines is ensuring that all 1,200 mines are undertaking progressive mine closure.

''They (Coal Controller) have ensured that in the existing, there are about 500 coal mines, and people have spent about Rs 3,000 crore in the last three years on progressive mine closure. That's a big achievement, and all the credit goes to this Coal Controller who has ensured that people spend not only at the end of the coal mine but also every five years,'' Kantha Rao said.

He further said that in the case of non-coal, the state governments have been a bit slow in carrying out mine closure, with the forfeited money available to them through the Indian Bureau of Mines.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, in his address, said as many as 500 mineral blocks have been auctioned to date since the auction regime began, while 119 have been auctioned in the last year alone.

Similarly, policy changes have made it easier to do business in mining and encouraged private companies to take part, such as 50-year uniform mining leases, he further said.

''No more delays due to lease renewals, easy transfer of permissions, funding support through the National Mineral Exploration Trust, and the first-time launch of exploration licenses to encourage the private sector,'' Reddy said.

As a result of focused efforts, India crossed a historic milestone, producing over 1 billion tonnes of coal for the first time in Indian history.

At the same time, coal imports dropped by 7.9 percent, falling to 243 million tonnes in 2025, Reddy added.

Kishan Reddy launched vision documents on the aluminium and copper sectors separately.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)