(a) whether some new coal mines reserves have been
discovered in many states during 1999-2000;
(b) if so, the details thereof, location-wise,
reserve-wise and grade-wise; and
(c) the details of steps taken by the government to
exploit this coal reserves?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINES & MINERALS
(SMT. RITA VERMA)
(a) & (b): No new coalfields has been discovered during the
calender year 1999-2000. However, exploration/compilation of
coal deposits in the country is done by Geological Survey
of India(GSI) on a continuous basis. By such exploration the
reserves of coal is updated every year as on 1st January by
GSI. During the calender year 1999, 2.86 billion tonnes of
new coal reserves was added to the already known reserves,
the details of which are as below location-wise and reserve-
wise:-
(c): After regional/promotional drilling, potential blocks are identified for detailed drilling and it takes a period of about 3 years for detailed drilling and formulation of geological report, which serves as the base document for planning. Thereafter project report for the coal mine is prepared and is processed for sanction by the Government of India after approval of the Company Board and the Coal India Limited (CIL) Board. The exploitation of the reserves can be started only after the land acquisition, release of forest land and approval of Environmental Management Plan(EMP) by Ministry of Environment and Forest. Hence, it takes a period of about 6 to 7 years after regional/promotional drilling before mining can be started in particular block.
(IN BILLION TONNES) LOCATION TOTAL RESERVES WEST BENGAL 0.01 BIHAR 0.38 MADHYA PRADESH 0.73 MAHARASHTRA 0.10 ORISSA 1.39 ANDHRA PRADESH 0.25 TOTAL 2.86
The grade-wise break-up of the above is as below:-
GRADE QUANTITY (IN BILLION TONNES) PRIME COKING NIL MEDIUM 0.36 COKING SEMI COKING NIL NON-COKING 2.50 TERTIARY NIL TOTAL 2.86