The Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) is planning to conduct the ground-breaking ceremony of its first coal mine in Odisha — Baitarani West Opencast Coal Mine — in the next financial year, official sources said.

In the run-up to the ground-breaking ceremony, the State Pollution Control Board, Odisha will be conducting a crucial environmental public hearing for the 15 million tonnes per annum (mpta) coal project in Angul district of Odisha on September 24. This public hearing is considered crucial for the project where GMDC plans to invest ₹8,000 crore over a period of 35 years.

The Baitarani West Coal mine is the first mining project of GMDC outside Gujarat, after a coal block allotted to the company in Chattisgarh had got cancelled. The mine is spread over an area of 1,196 hectares and covers parts of Chhendipada Jangal, Handigora, Machhakuta Jangal, Porapara, Porapara Jangal, Tentuloi-Korasahi areas that falls under Chhendipada tehsil of Angul district of Odisha. GMDC, which on an average handles 6-9 mpta of various minerals including lignite in Gujarat, is targeting to reach peak rated capacity of 15 mpta in this coal block in Odisha by 2030, sources told businessline.

Among top 20 mines

The land acquisition plan for this mine in Odisha comprises of 154 hectares of government land and almost 200 hectares of private land. GMDC expects that the Baitarani mine, with a geological reserve of 1,152 tonnes, will be among the top 20 coal mines in the country.

In a bid to operationalise the Baitarani West coal mine, GMDC in March 2024 had made public a ₹663-crore Land and Resettlement and Rehabilitation plan. The plan is for 1,500 families who have been affected by the project. The Baitarani West Coal mines is one of the two coal blocks GMDC had won in March 2023. The second coal block awarded to the company is Burapahar in Sundargarh district, with a geological reserve of 548 million tonnes. The Gujarat-based public sector entity was awarded a third coal block in Odisha in July 2024, when it received permission to develop the Kudanali-Luburi mine with an estimated reserve of 396 million tonnes of thermal coal.