India Aims for Coal Self-Reliance: Increased Mining & New Projects

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Coal minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday stressed on increasing existing mining operations and launching new projects to make the country self-reliant in the coal sector.

Reddy said all the subsidiaries of state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) should achieve their annual targets in a bid to achieve the country's fossil fuel requirement.

He assured full support of the government, including assistance with land acquisition, environmental and forest clearances in driving these efforts forward, the coal ministry said in a statement.

Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.

Reddy visited the headquarters of Coal India Ltd (CIL) arm Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) in Nagpur to review the company's performance.

The minister "reviewed WCL's coal production, productivity, dispatch efficiency, and addressed issues concerning project affected people," the statement said.

A detailed presentation was made, covering key metrics of coal production, dispatch, and overburden removal for the first and second quarters of ongoing fiscal.

Further, it was assured that WCL will meet its annual production targets by the end of the financial year.