With an aim to achieve one billion tonne coal production by the year 2023-24 and make the nation Atmanirbhar in coal, Coal India (CIL) will make investments over Rs 1.22 lakh crore on about 500 projects related to coal evacuation, infrastructure, project development, exploration and clean coal technologies.
The company will be investing around Rs 14,200 crore by the year 2023-24 in two phases for its 49 first mile connectivity projects. The first mile connectivity is the transportation of coal from pitheads to dispatch points. This is being done to bring in improved efficiency in coal transport and undertake computer-aided loading replacing the existing road transport between the two points.
Of the proposed investment of over Rs 1.22 lakh crore, the company has planned to invest Rs 32,696 crore on coal evacuation, Rs 25,117 crore on mine infrastructure, Rs 29,461 crore on project development, Rs 32,199 crore on diversification and clean coal technologies, Rs 1,495 crore on social infrastructure and Rs 1,893 crore on exploration works.
Further, in a transformative plan to increase coal output and reduce import dependency of coal in ensuing years, the company has identified a total of 15 greenfield projects to operate through Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) model that will entail a total investment plan of approximately Rs 34,600 crore of which likely investment by FY24 is about Rs 17,000 crore.
Apart from this, evacuation infrastructure is another major area where Coal India will invest large sums of money. The investments will be made in rail logistics like developing major railways about Rs 13,000 crore; railway sidings about Rs 3,100 crore and procurement of own wagons Rs 675 crore will total up to likely investment of over Rs 16,500 crore by FY23-24.
Coal India and its subsidiaries are engaged in procurement of various types of goods, works and services amounting to approximately Rs 30,000 crore per year.
In stakeholder friendly initiatives, the company has relaxed an array of measures and provided exemptions for greater participation of its stakeholders in its tenders. The experience criteria have been brought down from 65 percent to 50 percent for mining tenders, while work experience criteria are relaxed by 50 percent in turnkey contracts.
Pre-qualification requirement for participation in low value works and service tenders has now been done away with. Also, MSEs and start-ups are exempted from having prior experience and turnover. Further, there is no requirement of EMDs for MSEs and start-ups and Make-in-India provisions have been fully integrated in all tenders.