Chhattisgarh's New Coal Mining Boosts Power Supply

Coal mining has commenced at Parsa mine in Chhattisgarh, enhancing coal availability for local power plants. The Coal Ministry allocated three mines to Rajasthan's state electricity firm for 4,340 MW capacity. Efforts are underway to develop the Kente Extension block, reducing dependence on Coal India.

Coal mining operations have begun at the Parsa mine in Chhattisgarh this month, marking a significant step towards bolstering coal availability for the state's power plants, according to an official statement released on Friday.

The Coal Ministry has allocated three coal mines in Chhattisgarh—Parsa East and Kanta Basan (PEKB), Parsa, and Kente Extension—to the Rajasthan State Electricity Generation Corporation for thermal power generation with a capacity of 4,340 MW. Previously, continuous coal supply came from the PEKB mine. Now, mining activities have commenced at the Parsa site as well.

Currently, coal is being extracted from two out of the three captive blocks, supplying around 13 coal racks daily to the state's thermal power plants, which will soon increase to 14. Energy Minister Hiralal Nagar stated that the state government is striving to initiate mining at the Kente Extension in Surguja district soon, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and with central government collaboration, to further ensure a steady coal supply and reduce dependency on Coal India.

(With inputs from agencies.)