Coal India Gets REE Licence in Maharashtra

Kolkata, Jan 20 (PTI) Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Tuesday said it has received a mineral concession licence from the Ministry of Mines for the Kawalapur rare earth element (REE) block in Maharashtra.

The miner will have a licence of the block over a five-year period, the company informed stock exchanges.

The development is considered a key step in the miner's diversification into the strategic critical mineral segment.


The REE block is located at Kawalapur village in Ramtek tehsil of Nagpur district and covers an area of about 398.23 hectares, according to the mineral block summary.

Geological resources of rare earth elements in the block are estimated at around 27.95 million tonnes.

The move is part of Coal India's broader strategy to expand into critical mineral resources, as rare earth elements are vital for electronics, renewable energy technologies, electric mobility and defence applications.

The development also aligns with India's push to secure domestic sources of strategically important minerals and reduce import dependence.