Coal India to outsource exploratory drilling
13 April 2009
Public sector giant Coal India Limited (CIL), the world's largest coal miner is planning to enhance its drilling capacity to 1 million metre per annum by 2010-11 with an investment of Rs500 crore.
The capacity augmentation will be carried out partly by outsourcing and partly by modernising in-house capabilities.
Currently, exploratory drilling - the process by which mineral deposits are identified and evaluated for estimating the quantity and quality of the reserves - for CIL is carried out by its wing Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI).
The expansion envisages doubling of CMPDI's drilling capacity in two years, from the current 200,000 metre per annum to 400,000 metre per annum by introducing latest technology and outsourcing 600,000 metre per annum of drilling to competent agencies.
CIL chairman, Partha S Bhattacharyya said. ''We will outsource a part of CMPDI's drilling work to increase the capacity from 2 lakh metre per annum to 10 lakh metre over the next two years at an investment of about Rs500 crore.''
Through outsourcing, CIL intends to expedite the process of ascertaining coal reserves that would help it meet the dry fuel requirement of industries, including power and steel.
India, with 115 billion tonnes of proven coal reserves commands the fourth position in the world in terms of coal reserves after the US, Russia and China. Inferred reserves are about 172 billion tonnes as per CIL's January 2007 estimates.
CIL produced 379 million tonnes of coal in 2006-07 and the production crossed 400 million tonnes in 2007-08.
The company has ambitious plans of investing Rs 18,000 crore in 118 projects during the eleventh plan period (2007-12) to achieve a production target of 520 million tonnes per annum.
CIL is also in the process of acquiring coal assets abroad through its newly constituted subsidiary Coal Videsh, especially in Mozambique and Indonesia. (See: Coal India looks at mines in Mozambique, Indonesia; invites EoIs for reviving old mines)
