(a) Whether new coal reserves have been discovered during
the past one decade in the country;
(b) If so, the details thereof including the quantity
of coal reserves explored during the said period; and
(c) The total amount spent for this exploration ?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL (DR.DASARI NARAYANA RAO)
(a) Yes, Sir, Geological Survey of India (GSI)
conducts Regional Exploration of coal (Besides other
minerals) on regular basis to identify new coal
resources in the country. Apart from it, Ministry of
Coal also undertakes Promotional (regional) Exploration
of coal through a plan-to-plan scheme for supplementing
and augmenting the efforts of GSI.
(b) The Inventory of Geological Resources of Indian Coal
has increased from 201.95 billion Tonnes on 1.1.2006 (last
ten years), with addition of 51.35 billion Tonnes of new
coal resources.
(c) As per GSI, total expenditure incurred on regional
exploration of additional reserves during last decade works
out to Rs. 213.38 crores. Besides, as reported by Coal
India Ltd. Under the scheme of Promotional Exploration for
Coal and Lignite, an approximate sum of Rs. 204.00 crores
has been spent on completed and on going projects of
Promotional Exploration for coal, in the last ten years.