Energy Scenario in India

      Energy is vital for industrial development leading to economic growth.

In India, share of Thermal Energy is 64.6 %, Hydro : 24.7 %, Nuclear : 2.9% and Renewable:7.7 %.

Overall installed power generation capacity is around 1,51,000 MW. The soaring demand for power will necessitate a doubling of the installed capacity to the tune of 3,00,000 MW in the year 2020 as per planning Commission Projection.

Considering the limited reserve potentiality of petroleum & natural gas, eco-conservation restriction on Hydel project and geo-political perception of nuclear power, coal will be the backbone for development of power and continue to occupy centre-stage of India 's energy scenario. 

As per Coal India’s estimation as of April, 2012, the coal reserves in India are 293.49 Billion Tonnes (B Te) upto a depth of 1200 m. Of these, 118 B Te (40.25%) are proven and the share of Eastern Regional States is: Jharkhand - 40.16 B Te (33.99%), Odisha - 25.54 B Te (21.62%) and West Bengal - 12.42 B Te (10.51) with an overall total of 78.13 B Te (66.15%). 

During 2010-11, India produced 518 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal and Coal India Ltd. (CIL) contributed to 85% (440 MT) from 21 of the 27 Coalfields.

Out of over 2 Lakh ha of Mine Lease (ML) area, 55000 ha is forest land diverted to CIL for coal mining.

During 2011-12, the total coal production in India was 539.940 MT and CIL contributed 435.84 MT (80.7%). 

Future requirement of Power

An official statement from PMO: Prime Minister told the Industry Leaders “Power crisis is a national challenge”.

The Prime Minister underlined that the power sector is involved in the process of nation building and there is a need to reduce risks to make the power projects viable.

It is estimated that the country would require additional power generation capacity of around 85,000 MW by financial year 2017. That translates to a capacity addition of about 17,000 MW per year.

It is estimated that approximately 18,500 MW of projects commissioned after March, 2009 are likely to generate only 55% of their actual output due to domestic fuel constraints.

Coal Mining

OPENCAST MINING (OCP)

UNDERGROUND MINING (UGP)

During 2011-12, all-India coal production from OC has been 488.108 MT (90%) as compared to 477.839 MT during 2010-11.

The production of coal from UG mines is 51.832 MT (10%) and 54.855MT, respectively, for the same period.

The OC mines achieved a growth of 2.15% while UG mine declined to 5.51%.