Coal India To Open Big, New Mine This Year To Fight Power Crisis

Output from the new Siarmal mine in eastern Odisha state would rise gradually, reaching capacity of 50 million tonnes in about five to seven years, Vinayak Jamwal, spokesman for Coal India unit Mahanadi Coalfields said.

State-run Coal India will open this year what is expected to become one of the country's biggest coal mines, officials said, as India struggles to keep pace with surging power demand.

Output from the new Siarmal mine in eastern Odisha state would rise gradually, reaching capacity of 50 million tonnes in about five to seven years, Vinayak Jamwal, spokesman for Coal India unit Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL), told Reuters.

Production would initially start in the October to December quarter at an annualised rate of about 2 million to 5 million tonnes, Mr Jamwal said.

Coal India's record production has been brightspot in efforts to end India's worst power crisis in more than six years, as a heatwave has driven up demand for power and forced the government to reverse a policy on cutting coal imports.