Coal India Limited (CIL) has plans to develop 36 new coal projects in the next five years, Minister for Coal G Kishan Reddy said in a written response to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha.

The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has planned to open seven new coal mines in the next five years and NLC India Limited (NLCIL) has planned to open two new coal mines, the minister told the Upper House.

“The Ministry of Coal has allocated a total of 175 coal blocks. Out of these, 65 coal blocks have received mine opening permissions of which 54 are presently operational. These coal blocks are located across different states and regions of India,” said the minister.

Detailing the impact of mining projects on the lives of ordinary people, the minister told the house that these projects create direct and indirect employment for local people, leads to social and economic development of the project peripherals and infrastructure development in the area.

“New coal mining projects may increase water consumption depending on the specific project and its technology. Water consumption is project-specific and it depends upon the geometry of the Mine, like Project area, Depth of the Mine, Mine design like number of Benches, its width etc., technology used for mining such as machineries used for excavation, transportation etc. Generally, water is used for dust suppression, Domestic utilization, etc. No Objection Certificate (NOC) for each project is taken from Central Ground Water Authority, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India. NOC is granted based on detailed Hydrogeological Report and Groundwater Modelling,” said the minister.