Chhattisgarh government will cooperate in removing obstacles in Rajasthan coal block mining: Energy Minister

Energy Minister Hiralal Nagar has urged Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai to provide necessary support in removing the obstacles in coal mining from coal blocks Parsa East and Kanta Basan (PEKB), Parsa and Kente Extension allotted to Rajasthan. On the first day of his two-day Chhattisgarh visit, on the instructions of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Nagar met the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh at the Chief Minister's residence in Raipur. During this, Sai informed that the necessary consent from the Gram Sabha has been received two days ago for the 411 hectares of forest land to be given for mining operations for the next 6 years from the financial year 2025-26 of the coal block PEKB allotted to Rajasthan. He assured that the Chhattisgarh government will complete the land acquisition process as soon as possible and provide full cooperation in transferring it to the Production Corporation.

Nagar informed Sai that under the second phase of PEKB, the Chhattisgarh government had granted forest clearance in respect of 1136 hectares of forest land on 25 March 2022. He informed that in order to achieve the production capacity of 18 MTPA by the financial year 2024-25, it is necessary to hand over 74.13 hectares of additional land to Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam along with the 33.97 hectares of land made available by the beginning of July 2024. Also, the production corporation has applied for 411 hectares of forest land for mining operations for the next 6 years from the financial year 2025-26. It is necessary to hand over the land in a phased manner to meet the coal demand of the corporation's thermal units and to reduce the dependence on coal supply on external sources.

He said that after the coming of our government, with the efforts of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and the cooperation of the Chhattisgarh government, coal mining has started from 33.97 hectares of land from the PEKB block. At present, 9 racks are being received daily from this block. This has solved the coal problem of Rajasthan.

The Energy Minister informed that in the other allotted coal block Parsa, except for the transfer of trees and land, all other necessary statutory approvals related to starting mining work in 221 hectares area have been issued by the Central and State Government agencies. He urged that despite more than two years having passed, the transfer of land to the Production Corporation and permission from the Forest Department is pending at the level of the Chhattisgarh Government. He also requested the Chhattisgarh Government for early cooperation in this regard. Up to three racks can be obtained daily from this coal block.

The Energy Minister informed that in the other allotted coal block Parsa, except for the transfer of trees and land, all other necessary statutory approvals related to starting mining work in 221 hectares area have been issued by the Central and State Government agencies. He urged that despite more than two years having passed, the transfer of land to the Production Corporation and permission from the Forest Department is pending at the level of the Chhattisgarh Government. He also requested the Chhattisgarh Government for early cooperation in this regard. Up to three racks can be obtained daily from this coal block.