State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) is planning to take steps to clear fuel supply bottlenecks, including augmenting output to 615 million tonnes (mt) by fiscal 2017, as the power sector reels under fuel shortages.
Coal India said that it is planning to increase production in abandoned underground mines with increased mechanisation. Photo: AFP
“To ease the coal supply bottlenecks, CIL is planning to initiate and develop infrastructure facilities like speeding up the process of laying railway tracks, especially in those areas where coal reserves can be tapped,” the company said in its latest report.
The development of sidings is another thrust area that will help in increasing coal supplies, the “Maharatna” status firm said, adding that the coal crushing capacity is also being augmented.
CIL added that it is planning to increase production in abandoned underground mines with increased mechanisation.
Twenty-eight power plants across the country had coal stocks of less than four days as on 4 September.