‘We will soon provide 100% crushed coal to our consumers’
interview
NEW DELHI: The Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), a subsidiary of the Coal India Ltd (CIL), supplies more than 90% of its produced coal to the nearby pit-head thermal power plants. Coal requirements for 12% of the installed power generation capacity of thermal power plants in India are met by the NCL. Tapas Kumar Nag, chairman-cum-managing director, spoke to HT about the contribution of the company and the strategy to be part of efforts to achieve the country’s energy demands. Excerpts:
What is the company’s unique selling proposition for consumer satisfaction?
All the pit-head thermal power plants, which are fully dependent on NCL for their coal supplies for power generation, currently have a surplus stock of coal. The company will shortly provide 100% crushed coal to its consumers to ensure the supply of the desired size of coal along with desired quality. For this purpose, surface miners and mobile crushers were recently installed at mines, and the company’s new coal handling plants (CHPs) have been made compatible to crush coal to the desired size.
How has NCL’s recent performance been?
In the current financial year, NCL has been assigned to produce 80 million tonnes (MTs) of coal and the off-take target of the company is 83 MTs. Till the end of the third quarter, the company produced 56.71 MT, which is 16.87% higher than coal produced during the same period in the last fiscal.
How do you plan to enhance the production?
NCL has planned to enhance coal output to about 110 MTs by 2019-20 as part of the one billion tonne production by CIL.
How does NCL contribute through CSR activities?
NCL has streamlined its CSR activities under seven broad categories depending on the nature of work. These categories are Gaon Jodo Abhiyan, Kaushal, Aadhar, Khel Tarang, Sab Swasth, Sab Sakshar, and Swachh Jak. We have spent about ` 150 crore on CSR till the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal, which is 150% higher than the amount spent on CSR in the last fiscal. NCL has constructed more than 6,000 toilets in government schools in 12 districts of Madhya Pradesh. NCL has planted more than 2.29 crore saplings till date, which is the highest amongst all CIL subsidiaries.