Pramod Agrawal, Chairman, Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Wednesday said that renewables and coal will have to co-exist for some time before such alternative and clean energy can start contributing to a larger share of India’s energy basket.
While the country is consciously focussing on alternative clean and renewable energy sources, it might be difficult for renewables to take over coal completely in the near future.
India targets to add 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 275 GW by 2027.
“World over, many countries are migrating from coal to cleaner forms of renewable energy sources, but in India, the situation is different. The question is, can renewables take over coal completely in our country? Not in the near future at least,” Agrawal said at the 46th AGM of CIL.
For now, coal will continue to remain the dominant energy source, while solar, wind, hydel and natural gas would supplement coal in meeting the energy needs. Over the past couple of years, India accounted for around 11 per cent of the global coal consumption and it remains the second largest coal consumer in the world, he added.
Ramping up production
Agrawal said, as many as 18 mining project reports have been cleared by CIL and its subsidiaries in FY-20 with a rated capacity of 132.04 mty (million tonnes/year) and sanctioned capital of ₹21,244 crore.
To make a quantum jump in coal production, Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) documents for opencast and underground mines have been finalised with valuable input from all stakeholders approved by the CIL board.
CIL has finalised tenders for procuring heavy earth moving machinery (HEMM) worth over ₹5,900 crore for increasing coal production and improving the age profile of HEMM.
Coal India has lined up close to ₹10,000 crore as capital expenditure in 2020-21. Capex on plant and machinery and on land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement would together account for nearly 57 per cent of the overall capex during the current financial year.
While the plant and machinery portion, including procurement of HEMM, would account for a major portion of the capex at around ₹3,700 crores for the year, the expenditure on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement would be more than ₹1,900 crore, it had said earlier.