Construction Industry News
Chhattisgarh's South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) finished second in coal production from eight state-run Coal India (CIL) entities in fiscal year 2022-23. With 193.3 million tonnes (mt) of production in FY23, neighbouring Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) of Odisha retained its position as the nation's largest coal-producing company for the second consecutive fiscal year.
SECL retained the number one spot until FY21. However, production fell to 142.5 mt in FY22, only to be surpassed by MCL, which produced 168.2 mt of coal. In FY23, the SECL and MCL planned to produce 182 mt and 173 mt of coal, respectively. Despite production growing by more than 17 percent, the SECL could record a production of 167 mt in 2022-23.
The MCL authorities are overjoyed with the achievement, which puts them in first place in coal production for the second year in a row.
"We are pleased to report that MCL has achieved all of its goals well ahead of schedule and contributed to Coal India exceeding its 700mt target for FY23," said MCL Chairman and Managing Director OP Singh. He claimed that environmentally friendly surface miners accounted for 97% of MCL's total production.
Prem Sagar Mishra, chairman--managing director (CMD) of SECL, described the company's performance as "significant". "The company has huge potential." "The goal is lofty and the journey continues."
Overburden Removal (OBR) removal reached a new high of 264.10 million cubic meters, an increase of 35% year over year. Mishra stated that OBR was a pre-coal mining process that would help the SECL meet higher production targets in the future.
However, SECL's Gevra project set a record in FY23 by becoming the country's first mine to produce more than 50 million tons of coal. The total output of the project was estimated at 52.5 mt in FY23.
