Indian major Coal India Limited (CIL) is planning to expand Kusmunda mine capacity in the central Indian province of Chattisgarh, with an investment of $1.2bn.
The expansion plan aims to produce 15 million tons a year to 50 million tons a year from Kusmunda mine, according to miningweekly.com.
Operated by CIL’s wholly owned subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), the Kusmunda mine will be expanded within the next three to five years.
Official said that the company would use existing technology of shove-dumper mix and in-pit conveyors to transport coal from the pithead to the stockyards, as part of expansion plan.
However, the company’s major challenge would be the railway link construction from stockyards to Indian railway network, the cost of which had been included in the total project cost for Kusmunda.
According to CIL chairperson Narsing Rao, the expansion plan comes as the company is slated to miss its coal production target by about five-million tons of 482-million in during 2013/14.