Adanis aim to produce 100 mt coal by 2020

NEW DELHI: India’s largest coal importer and trader, the Adani Group, is aiming to be the largest mine developercum-operator (MDO) in the country and produce about 100 million tonnes by 2020, besides commissioning 5,000 mw of power projects that will use low-grade coal, company executives said.


The group, which plans to invest .`30,000 crore in four mining projects as well as power plants in next six to seven years, has commenced commercial coal production from Parsa East & Kanta Basan block, which is being developed on behalf of Rajasthan’s power generation utility.

The block, located in Chhattisgarh, is estimated to have reserves of 452 million tonnes and can produce 15 million tonnes of coal a year after it is fully developed.

The group’s flagship Adani Enterprises imports close to 40 million tonne of coal annually, and has secured contracts to produce coal up to 90 million tonne in Indian mines that have reserves of over 3 billion tonnes.

Coal produced by the Adani group on behalf of state utilities will enable them to generate 18,000 mw of power after the mines are fully developed. Several thermal plants in India are operating below capacity and some are even idling because of a severe shortage of coal in the country.

The state monopoly Coal India’s production has severely lagged demand as development of new mines has been held up because of various reasons such as delay in environment and forest clearances. Company executives said the Adani group is the first MDO to successfully start production and supply coal to a state electricity board.