MCL to Start Operation in Two New Coal Mines in Odisha's Talcher Area by FY 2029-30

Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL) is going to start operation in two of its new mines having total coal reserve of 35 million tonnes (MT) in Talcher coalfield area of Odisha's Angul district, a senior company official said.

"We are going to start operation of the Subhadra coal mine having a reserve of 25 MT in Talcher area by the end of financial year 2025-26," chairman cum managing director (CMD) of MCL, Uday A Kaole, said during a media interaction here.

Similarly, the Balabhadra coal mine with a capacity of 10 MT will be made operational by the end of financial year 2029-30, he said.

At present, MCL is operating 18 coal mines in Angul, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts in Odisha of which three are underground mines and the remaining 15 are open-cast mines.

Among the coal mines, the public sector company has seven operational mines in Angul district which include Jagannath, Bhubaneswari, Bharatpur, Hingula, Lingaraj, Kaniha and Talcher (UG). Now, the company is going to start exploration from Subhadra and Balabhadra mines, he said.

To maintain transparency in its mining activities, MCL has installed CCTVs in 98 per cent of its operational areas while the remaining 2 per cent will be done soon, the CMD said, adding, "We are also using artificial intelligence (AI) for real-time tracking of coal transportation vehicles which are GPS enabled." He further said MCL has a reserve of about 35 MT of coal to ensure that there will be no crisis of coal for power generation.

The company has produced 225 MT of coal during 2024-25 with a growth of 9 per cent compared to its previous financial year. The total coal dispatch was 210 MT, which also registered a growth of 6 per cent, he said.

The CMD said that "98 per cent of our total coal production is being done through eco-friendly surface mines, which is highest in the country." The coal-producing company has targeted to achieve net zero carbon emission by FY 29. It has planned to set up several renewable energy projects including solar, wind and pumped storage power plant projects in different parts of the state with an estimated investment of Rs 17,900 crore, another official of the company said.

Further, the company has set a target to produce 239 million tonnes of coal in FY26, which is expected to reach 300 MT by the fiscal 2029-30, he said.