By Our Correspondent
RANCHI/BHUBANESWAR: After completing a successful year with the achievement of coal production of 14.02 Million MT in FY 2021-22 registering a year-on-year growth of 36% from FY 2020-21, NTPC Coal Mining has opened this year’s coal production on a high note. The three operational coal mines viz. Pakri Barwadih (Jharkhand), Dulanga (Odisha) and Talaipalli (Chhattisgarh) have contributed to achieve this remarkable feat of 16 Lakh Tonnes, the highest ever coal production for a month since the start of coal production. Leading from the front, in May’22, Pakri Barwadih coal mine has also achieved the highest ever coal production of 10 Lakh tonnes for a month since start.
NTPC’s coal mining journey has faced a boulevard of hardships, be it land acquisition, rehabilitation & resettlement, unsettling times of COVID-19 pandemic or agitation by local villagers leading to loss of production which has hindered the achievement of coal production targets. However, the resolute leadership, resilient workforce, support from District and State Administration led to achievement of year-on-year growth of 43% in the preceding two months of this FY 2022-23 as compared to that of FY 2021-22. The year-on-year growth for May’22 alone stands at 81% as compared to May’21.
Safety comes first before production of coal in NTPC. This is the mool mantra for the NTPC Coal Mining Team across its projects. In accordance with the guidelines of the Director General of Mine Safety (DGMS), NTPC has prepared and implemented Safety Management Plan (SMP) for all its coal mines. As a unique initiative, digitization of SMP (e-SMP) has been done in-house by NTPC and implemented successfully in its operating mines. NTPC Coal Mining management, from July’21, has taken the resolve to conduct at least one training program every week; on safety, best practices in mining, equipment operation and maintenance, etc. to focus on competency building across all verticals.
In efforts to eliminate environmental injustices, the working areas have been installed with dust suppression and water-sprinkling systems. The monitoring of emissions, SOx, NOx, particulate matters, etc. are being done continuously, and, tree plantation is being done at all available opportunities. Transformation from diesel operated HEMMs to electrically operated HEMMs has started in these mines.
Heeding to the words of Benjamin Franklin – An investment in knowledge pays the best interest, NTPC is imparting skill development training to the coal mining project affected persons to make them employable. NTPC Pakri-Barwadih has tied up with Government of Jharkhand to run the NTPC Mining Industrial Training Institute (MAITI), established in Pakri-Barwadih mine area, through Jharkhand Government Mini Tool Room and Training Center (JGMTRTC).
As a part of backward integration, NTPC forayed into coal mining sector, and so far, its operational mines have delivered more than 48 Million MT of coal to more than 22 thermal plants of NTPC. The coal, from captive coal mines, is much sought after in NTPC power stations because of its consistent quality, size and absence of any shale/boulder etc. So far, NTPC Coal Mining has delivered against all odds and shall continue to ensure sustainable coal supply to its power plants for delivery of cheap and uninterrupted power to the stakeholders.
