As the SUV bounces down the rutted, slushy path, the bottom of the massive 50-metre deep crater reveals itself as a hive of activity.

Large dumpers spilling coal and earth wheeze their way up to the dumping yard above, surface mining machines monotonously plough away at coal seams leaving loose coal in their wake, hydraulic shovels follow them scooping away the coal and depositing it onto waiting dumpers, and tankers suck out the water from natural springs exposed by the digging and gouging.

We are at the Bharatpur mine of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, in Talcher, Odisha. The open cast mine produces about 7.5 million tonnes per annum, a medium-size operation in MCL’s portfolio. But if everything goes to plan, the output will zoom to 20 million tonnes in five years.

This mine is representative of the opportunities and challenges for Coal India as the behemoth maharatna scrambles to meet the target of a billion tonnes of output by 2019-20, set by Minister of State for Coal, Power and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal.

Ambitious target Last year, Coal India (CIL) produced 494 million tonnes, 6.88 per cent more than in 2013-14, the best growth rate achieved by the company till now. To meet Goyal’s target, the output has to grow at 15.15 per cent CAGR over the next five years.

Tall order? No, say CIL officials, revealing that they have a clear plan, down to the individual mine level, to achieve this. Challenges on land acquisition and environmental clearances can be managed, they maintain. “We cannot shirk away simply because it appears daunting. We aim to give it our best shot,” says a confident S Bhattacharya, CMD of Coal India.

Not everyone agrees. A former CMD of CIL, Partha Bhattacharyya, is one of the dissenters, saying it’s a tall order.

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