New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS): The Coal Ministry will take up an additional 19 first mile connectivity (FMC) projects for Coal India Ltd (CIL) and SCCL with a capacity of 330 million tonnes, officials said on Monday.

These projects will be implemented by 2026-27.

The ministry has already undertaken 55 FMC projects of 526 million tonnes per annum capacity with an investment of Rs 18,000 crore.

Out of these, eight projects of 95.5 million tonnes per annum capacity have been commissioned and the remaining will be commissioned by 2025.

The ministry has formulated a strategy to develop an integrated approach for eliminating road transportation of coal in mines and has taken steps to upgrade mechanised coal transportation and loading system under FMC projects.

Coal handling plants (CHPs) and silos with rapid loading systems will have benefits like crushing, sizing of coal and speedy computer aided loading, official sources said.

To ensure efficient and environment-friendly coal evacuation in future, the ministry is working on the development of National Coal Logistic Plan including FMC through railway sidings near coal mines and strengthening of rail network in coalfields.

Coal India Ltd has set a target to produce 1.31 billion tonnes of dry fuel by 2024-25 and 1.5 billion tonnes of coal in 2029-30.