Government considering alternative use of coal and emptied mines

The government is considering a renewed focus on alternative use of coal and de-coaled mines, as the domestic production of the fuel has increased in the past few years and the supply for power sector seems to be stable for the time being.

- Rituraj Baruah

"Now that production and supply concerns have been addressed and the domestic availability of coal for power and other sectors is not an issue, diversification efforts including coal gasification, and revisiting the plan to pump storage projects (PSP) at de-coaled or emptied mines would gain more prominence going ahead," said a person aware of the development.

Coal use diversification has been on the agenda for the past few years, but increasing domestic coal production and supplies to the power sector had been at the core of the ministry's operations.