The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has set a tough target of producing and dispatching 2.7 lakh tonne of coal daily for the remaining days of the current fiscal. Currently, 2 lakh tonne is dispatched daily against the production of 2.15 lakh tonne.
SCCL, a coal mining company jointly-owned by the Government of Telangana and the Central government on a 51:49 equity basis, has been facing its own set of challenges as far as getting new mines is concerned. In fact, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, who was recently in New Delhi, had met Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy. The details of the meeting were not disclosed.
Ramp up output
SCCL Chairman and Managing, N Balram, who holds the Director (Finance) portolio, at a review meeting recently asked his team to ramp up the output. He said that high priority will be given to quality along with achieving production targets. He called for achieving production and transportation of 2.7 lakh tonnes of coal per day till March 31.
Taking stock of the entire output, the CMD said the lagging areas which have led to a lower output need to be recovered to meet the target.
Recently, Telangana Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who is also the Energy Minister, while extending support to SCCL had asked the coal miner to reduce production cost to meet future challenges and tackle competition. Maintaining the same narrative, SCCL CMD, had warned of running the risk of losing consumers’ confidence if the quality goes down.
Bhatti has also been pushing SCCL to diversify into other areas. He had said that SCCL should consider engaging a consultancy to assist in formulating strategies for expansion. SCCL is currently operating 39 mines, 17 opencast and 22 underground mines, with a manpower of around 42,000.
On December 11, the Union Coal Minister had informed Lok Sabha that efforts are on to increase domestic coal production and eliminate non-essential import of coal. For this purpose, regular review is being done to expedite the development of the blocks. Even coal mining companies like Coal India Ltd and SCCL are being asked to increase domestic production.
With regards to SCCL, he had said, “Regular liaison is being undertaken by SCCL for grounding of new projects and operation of existing projects. SCCL has initiated action for developing infrastructure for evacuation of coal like coal handling plants, crushers, mobile crushers, pre-weigh-bins etc.”
