Coal India Limited (CIL) has devised a strategic plan to phase out imports of heavy earth-moving machinery (HEMM) and underground mining equipment over the next six years, the Ministry of Coal said on November 23.
Currently, CIL, India’s biggest miner, imports high-capacity equipment, such as electric rope shovels, hydraulic shovels, dumpers, crawler dozers, drills, motor graders, and front-end loaders wheel dozers, valued at Rs 3,500 crore, incurring additional expenses of Rs 1,000 crore in customs duty.
“To curb these imports and boost domestic manufacturing, CIL plans to phase out imports gradually over the next six years. This approach aims to encourage and develop domestically manufactured equipment. However, high-capacity machines are already being procured from domestic manufacturers,” the ministry said in a statement.
To foster indigenous manufacturing capabilities within the coal mining sector under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaigns, the Ministry of Coal constituted an interdisciplinary high-level committee under the chairmanship of the Director (Technical), CIL. The committee has now submitted its report to the ministry with recommendations for bolstering domestic manufacturing of HEMM and underground mining equipment, including high wall miners, standard and low-capacity miners, and associated ancillary equipment.
The utilization of non-functional and underutilized government infrastructure facilities is also being explored to support Indian equipment manufacturers.
As per projections of the Indian government, coal will remain the predominant energy source even beyond 2030, on the basis of which the committee has stated that there will be a huge requirement of equipment in the next 10 years in the country, both for opencast mines and underground mines.
The committee comprised representatives from the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Ministry of Railways, SCCL, NLCIL, NTPC, WBPDCL, BEML, Caterpillar, Tata Hitachi, GAINWELL, industry associations and various stakeholders.
In its report, the committee has recommended standardization of equipment to boost domestic manufacturing to captive/ commercial mine operators, outsourcing contractors and departmental equipment, in line with CIL’s existing equipment standardization effort.
It has also recommended that tender clauses should promote the use of indigenous equipment to support the ‘Make in India’ mission. Additionally, a scheme has also been suggested to incentivise manufacturers to design, develop and make equipment in India for five years under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“CIL has undertaken a comprehensive standardisation of mining equipment to be deployed. The objective is to ensure the widespread use of domestically manufactured equipment in coal production, transportation, and monitoring, without compromising productivity,” the ministry said.
Coal India Limited has already issued standardisation guidelines. Promoting indigenous equipment capabilities will also lead to a reduction in the breakdown period of imported equipment, which often remains non-operational due to a lack of spare parts. This will be achieved by manufacturing major aggregates such as engines, transmission systems, differentials, and motors, with duty restrictions on the required parts and materials.
“Coal India has already started procuring high capacity HEMM and advanced continuous miners, capable of remote supervision, with real-time position tracking for increased efficiency and safety. Efforts are underway to promote indigenous production of HEMM,” it said.
The ministry has identified domestic manufacturers for the production of mining equipment for both opencast (OC) and underground (UG) mining along with the upgradation of technology and capacity. Besides, CIL has also introduced battery electric vehicles (BEV) load haul dump (LHD) units, providing improved ventilation and cost savings.
