Contents
6 | COVER STORY
29 Jan thermal coal offers fall on weak demand
How Green is my mine?
30 Seaborne coking coal offers slide in Jan on low demand
Can coal mining ever be environmentfriendly? May be not. But beneficiation, proper mine closures and social impact assessments of the displaced are a must
31 India’s November coal imports edge up 2% y-o-y 32 CIL’s Dec coal production dips 0.91% y-o-y 33 SCCL’s Dec production rises 6.44% y-o-y 36 Dec sponge iron production drops y-o-y 37 Power capacity addition in Nov at 660 MW 38 India’s Nov cement production up 8.8% y-o-y
20 | Cover Story India needs to follow UK model in reducing carbon usage This year, GHG emissions are slated to rise 2%, which means a 3°C rise and irreversible climate change
39 Cement industry to grow at 6-7% till 2022
‘Increased mechanisation in mining calls for increased beneficiation’
40 Household electrification at 100 percent in 25 states 42 Traffic handled by major ports up 4% in Apr-Dec 43 Indian Railways’ Dec coal handling up 5.6% y-o-y
27 | interview
44 India’s coal-based generation estimated at 63% by FY22
Cement consumption likely to grow 4.5% in FY19
46 US coal production may dip 3% to 729 MMst in 2019
Aparna RMC to launch 3 new plants next fiscal year, says T Chandra Sekhar, Technical Director, Aparna Enterprises
47 Chabahar in Indian hands: new vista opens up in Central Asia? 53 Bandh blocks MCL efforts to overcome production loss 54 Corporate 56 E-auction Data 57 Port Data
4 Coal Insights, January 2019
22 | Interview
Coal beneficiation a priority for benefit of producers and consumers, says R P Ritolia, Advisor, SNRL/India Power
34 | Feature
SCCL eyeing coal blocks outside Telengana PSU rides unprecedented success, doubles growth in 5 years since formation of state, expands power generation capacity
Cover Story
How Green is my mine? Madhumita Mookerji
Can coal mining ever be environment-friendly? May be not. But since coal forms the major part of our energy basket, the next best thing is beneficiation and proper mine closure
6 Coal Insights, January 2019
Cover Story
N
ow how would you define Green mining? It is a fairly new term. A definition of it basically encompasses the complete cycle of mining activities, starting from exploration to transportation of the material, which includes coal mining, its handling, washing, storage etc in-between. It refers to the technology and best practices which are implemented to reduce the negative environmental impact that are generally associated with mining and processing activities per se. The entire supply chain is covered under Green mining, not just the mining activity alone. For instance, let us start with the coal block itself in which exploration is carried out. During exploration, the geologists, drillers and other members of the group must take care of the environment before locating the bore hole position, so that it does create minimum disturbance to the fauna and flora in the vicinity of the site under exploration. Thereafter, comes mine development. The miner will have to ensure that the overburden dump is well covered so that it does not disturb the habitat of the local flora and fauna. Then comes processing, where the coal stockpiles should be covered during storage so that there is no fugitive dust creation. Post-this the coal is cleaned – and this is a very important aspect for its effective and efficient transportation and usage – to ensure that its burning is efficient, with minimum consumption of the material. Because, as per the Trade & Development Boards norms adopted by the United Nations, extraction and consumption of coal will have to be regulated in a method that is the most efficient. Even after the mining activity is completed, “mine closure” has to be environmentally compatible, and the miner has to ensure that it does not create a negative environmental impact there and instead plants trees and restores the mined out area to its near-original condition. Wherever it is not practical, land should be restored to make it fit for its economic use. Supply chain entails loading the wagons and delivering the coal to the consumer. There should be no spillage on the way and the fuel will have to be carried covered by a compatible material. “The law is very clear. Nowhere in the world except in India is coal transported in open trucks or rakes. Any mining activity
that causes least environmental damage is called ‘Green mining’,” R K Sachdev, President, Coal Preparation Society of India (CPSI), Chairman, International Organising Committee (IOC), XIX International Coal Preparation Congress (ICPC), informs Coal Insights. Srestha Banerjee, Programme Manager, Environmental Governance and Mining & Community, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), is categorical in saying that, “Mining cannot be Green. By the very nature of it, it will have environmental consequences and social repercussions.” Thus, she adds, the idea should be to undertake mining in the best possible way, in a more socially and environmentally responsible manner. “Basically, the nature of mining is open cast and thus there is bound to be environmental repercussions no matter how well you do it. By its nature, it involves forest land, there will be soil erosion and water issues. And there are social consequences, which most of the time, have to do with displacement. Moreover, mines keep on expanding, adding to the displacement problem. Most of the large coal and iron ore mines seek expansion and clearances to that effect,” observes Banerjee. When environmentalists talk of environmentally and socially responsible mining there are a few key factors that have to be kept in mind. One is the mine management plan. “The progressive and final plans have to be done properly and followed through. The problem is the mine plan is done properly but often not followed properly. For instance, mine closure is a big issue in our country,” insists Banerjee. Indeed, the most fundamental aspect of mine management is its closure. Secondly, as one progresses in mining, the miner has to take certain pollution control measures. Because, big mines are opened up but never properly closed. Which later leads to soil degradation, ground water leakage and other problems. As already mentioned, when a company starts mining, it has to have progressive and final mine closure plans in place. In the first, as the company keeps on extracting the minerals, it has to fill up the vacant areas and move on to the next phase. Under such a method, the mine gets restored. But that is also now being debated in the National
Mineral Policy. The government is now stressing on productive use of the mine closed, so that the displaced communities get something out of it because they earlier had once owned that land. Therefore, future trends indicate that there has to be restoration and productive use of the closed mine. A Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on August 11, 2016 had stated that Coal India Limited (CIL) had identified “476 mines for closure and mine closure plans (MCPs) of 445 mines had been approved until July 31 of 2016”. The current mine closure guidelines were issued by the Ministry of Coal (MoC) with the aim of creating a self-sustained ecosystem. Under these norms, each coal mine owner applying for approval or re-validation of his mining plans is mandated to deposit money into an escrow account controlled by the Coal Controller (CC) but the CC is not equipped to reclaim or restore these mining areas in case the mine owner fails to discharge his responsibility. Further, there is no roadmap for the reclamation of abandoned coal mines (or mines without proper closure). Mine management also involves overburden management. The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has given detailed guidelines on overburden management aspects. However, sources say the problem is that these are not implemented properly. Very little inspection takes place, they add, and even the IBM can only do a certain percentage of inspection in a year, overburdened by the huge number, as it is, say sources. As a result, India has a big problem of abundant mines. The figures on abandoned mines are poorly documented. The non-coal number would be in the vicinity of over 210 and coal would be double the number, as per Banerjee. It is thus important to adopt the best practices in coal mining since mine closure ultimately decides what is left behind as a legacy for future generations. While policies, guidelines and statutes have addressed air and water pollution within mines in India, there has woefully been no thought on mining and land reclamation. Beneficiation
Where coal washing or coal preparation is concerned, it’s an important component of Green mining in the sense that if the coal is not washed, ie, a miner/coal producing company sends the commodity as it is, it will
Coal Insights, January 2019
7
INTERVIEW
‘Increased mechanisation in mining calls for increased beneficiation’
A We have been talking of clean coal for many years now, yet nothing much is achieved on the ground. What could be the solution to the lackadaisical attitude of both the miners and consumers about coal beneficiation? The world over, coal production is meant to be clean. The word run-of-mine (ROM) coal is heard only in India. However, presently, in India too washery is an integral part of all the new and big projects. There may be questions that only by washing how are you improving the environment? Actually, beneficiation has a number of advantages, not only for environment, but for users as well. First, you
22 Coal Insights, January 2019
t a time when the Indian coal sector is adopting new mining technologies and going for higher mechanisation, beneficiation of coal becomes a priority, not only for the environment’s sake, but also for the benefit of producers and consumers, R P Ritolia, Advisor, Swaymbhu Natural Resources Private Limited (SNRL)/India Power, and former Chairman and Managing Director, Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), tells Arindam Bandyopadhyay. Excerpts:
don’t carry the dirt and to that extent you carry less volume of material and therefore there is less consumption of fuel. But, the rejects remain at the pithead and that has to be transported and utilised somewhere else. As for consumers, the biggest advantage for thermal power plants (TPP) in using washed coal is that it gives them consistency. In case of ROM coal, consistency of quality cannot be ensured as coal is not a homogenous material. Once you wash it, the product is of consistent quality and
sized. Although CIL may claim to be supplying only sized coal, there will always be variations. But if the coal is washed, there will be no issue of sizing because it will be 100 percent crushed coal. In spite of introduction of third-party sampling still there are disputes and the consumers are not fully satisfied on the quality front. The outcome also depends upon the mode of sampling. All these issues related to quality variation will be taken care of once the coal is washed.
INTERVIEW
Cement consumption likely to grow 4.5% in FY19
T
he infrastructure and housing push spells a positive future for the cement industry. Consequently, Aparna Enterprises’ ready-mix concrete division, Aparna RMC, is looking to launch three RMC plants, two in Telangana and one in Vizag in the next financial year (2019-20), T Chandra Sekhar, Technical Director, Aparna Enterprises, tells Ritwik Sinha. Aparna RMC currently operates 16 plants in south India. Excerpts from an interview:
What is the size of cement sector in India? How has the sector evolved in the last few years? India is the second-largest producer of cement in the world and has been witnessing steady growth. According
to IBEF, currently, the sector produces around 285 million tons (mt), out of which 280 mt is produced to meet domestic demand and 5 mt is for exports requirement. The cement industry is also one of
Coal Insights, January 2019
27
FEATURE
SCCL eyeing coal blocks outside Telengana PSU doubles growth in 5 years since formation of Telangana
Coal Insights Bureau
C
asting aside doubts about the uncertainty the industries could face when the state of Telengana was being formed five years back, today Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is riding an unprecedented wave of success, ranking as the leading company amongst government organisations. So much so that this public sector unit, buoyed by its performance, is now looking to both expand in terms of supply and cater to increased demand. Where supply is concerned SCCL is planning to take up seven blocks in states outside of Telengana along with its 48 existing mines within this state. This move
34 Coal Insights, January 2019
comes against the backdrop of growing demand for power within Telengana and also the demand for coal from other states. The company has already taken up the Naini block in Odisha which has a capacity of 500 million tons (mt) of coal. Further, SCCL is making arrangements to take up another new block, New Patrapura, also in Odisha. That apart, the company is gearing up to take up six more new blocks in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The company said in a release that Telengana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who has special interest in the diversification of SCCL, has personally submitted a letter in this regard to the Prime Minister. “Once these new blocks are taken up,
within a short time Singareni will reach a total production volume of 100 million tons. Singareni is taking rapid strides in this direction,” the release informed. Power generation
The PSU is expanding its power generation capacity as well to meet rising power demand. Singareni’s thermal power plant has ranked 4th rank nationally by producing 19,036 million units of power through its 1,200MW power plant. On the instructions of the chief minister, another 800-MW critical thermal power plant is also going to be set up. Apart from this, another 300-MW of solar power plants are also being taken up across 12 locations. These will be completed by 2018-19 with an initial capacity of 130 MW. Thus, after the formation of Telangana, Singareni is lending a hand in the development of the state. In this process, the sales of Singareni coal also increased considerably. Along with Telangana state power companies, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana state power utilities have also purchased coal from SCCL, the release said. The company indicated that even organisations which used to procure coal from other sources are looking to purchase the fuel from Singareni due to the standard production and the quality of coal. Hence, there is huge demand for coal from Singareni, the company said. As per the release, the company has shown growth which has never been witnessed in the 129 years of its existence and stands as an example not just for government organisations in Telangana but for all government organisations in India. “Coal production, coal transport, overburden (OB) removal and profits are much higher and unparalleled in the last five years (2014-19) when compared to the five years before the formation of Telangana ie (2009-14). Coal India, which has eight subsidiaries, could not match such growth in the last five years,” the release said. Before and after
In the five years before the formation of Telangana (2014-19), growth in coal
58 Coal Insights, January 2019
Tear along the dotted line
Tear along the dotted line