NTPC's Pakri Barwadih coal mine begins production ops

The state-owned power producer NTPC has started production from Pakri Barwadih coal mine in Jharkhand and the first rake of the dry fuel was flagged off on Thursday.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did the honours in the presence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State of Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha.

The mine has an estimated mining capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and has been allotted by the central government to NTPC as basket mine to meet the fuel shortfall of its power stations.

Coal mining is integral to NTPC's fuel security strategy, which believes that greater self-reliance on coal will go a long way in ensuring sustained growth of generation.

NTPC has been allotted coal blocks, namely Pakri Barwadih, Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari, Dulanga, Talaipalli and Chatti-Bariatu (South), Banai, Bhalumunda and Mandakini B. These mines carry total geological reserves of around 7.15 billion tonnes and have a production potential of 107 mtpa catering to requirements of 20,000 mw. Pakri Barwadih has a block area of 46.26 sq km with a mine capacity of 15 mtpa.

The company opened the block in March last year after it was re-allotted the mine in 2015. Five blocks of NTPC were cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2014 when the apex court terminated mining licences of 204 coal blocks across the country. As on date, NTPC has total installed capacity of 48,028 Megawatt with 19 coal-based, seven gas-based stations and one hydro-based station.

In the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), NTPC added 9,639 MW capacity, making it the companys highest capacity addition in a Plan period. In the last Plan period, it added 9,610 MW capacity. The company has set a target of adding 11,900 MW capacity during the current Plan period ending in 2016-17. It has set a target of installed power generating capacity of 1,28,000 MW by 2032, according to its website.