Surface coal mining in India - the future

摘要

Surface coal mining has attained a commanding height in Indian coal industry scenario with an aggregate production of 346 Mt during 2005-06 with a dominant share of 85 percent of the aggregate national production: Estimatedly, some 56 percent of the national inventory of coal reserves is amenable to extraction by surface mining; there is no doubt whatsoever that surface mining will continue to straddle India's coal future ,up to 2035 at least, when the exhaustion of reserves may constrain surface mining. Surface coal mining currently is besieged with performance problems due to low productivity of capital, of poor coal quality and increasing resistance encountered in garnering "social licence to operate". All these issues are likely to be compounded in future years and it is a moot point if the sector can continually increase its share beyond 2030. Implicit in any futuristic projection of demand, there is always a degree of uncertainty when we attempt to look beyond a time horizon of 25 years. For example, the projected coal demand of 2343 Mt (at 9 percent GDP growth rate) by 2031-32 could be set at naught if there are any discontinuities ushered in by breakthrough in nuclear energy or for that matter in renewable energy.