New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS): India’s coal production has increased by a robust 11.7 per cent to scale a record level of 997.83 million tonnes during the financial year March 31, 2024, Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy has informed the Lok Sabha.

He said that the government focuses on increasing the domestic production of the fuel to eliminate non-essential imports of coal in the country.

The minister said that coal production has risen steadily in the last four years from 730.9 million tonnes in 2019-20.

“The double-digit increase has been carried over to the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year with a growth of 10.75 per cent to 247.396 MT,” the minister said.

He said that the steps taken by the government to step up coal production in the country include a single window clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalisation of coal mines.

As part of the new reforms, an auction of commercial mining on a revenue-sharing basis was launched in 2020.

“Under the commercial mining scheme, a rebate of 50 per cent on the final offer has been allowed for the quantity of coal produced earlier than the scheduled date of production,” he said.

The minister added that the incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction (rebate of 50 per cent on final offer) have also been granted.

“The terms of commercial coal mining too have been liberalised with no restriction on utilisation of coal, which has allowed new companies to participate in the bidding process,” the minister explained.

He said that coal companies including the country's largest producer Coal India Ltd have also taken various steps to increase domestic coal production such as the adoption of mass production technologies.

“It has also been using state-of-the-art technology in its high-capacity excavators, dumpers and surface miners. Besides, Coal India is planning large capacity UG mines wherever feasible,” the minister added.