State-run Coal India Ltd will invest Rs.100 billion (Rs.10,000 crore) to revive coal mines at Jharia in Jharkhand, a top official said here Wednesday.
“Jharia coal mines are highly under-utilised and only coking coal is produced there. If the mine fire at Jharia is controlled and this facility is properly utilised, it alone can cater to the coking coal need of the whole steel industry,” Coal India chairman and managing director Partha S. Bhattacharyya told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.
The investment will be used to control the mine fire and install modern technologies for mining, he added.
“We are already in talks with major steel producers and the government. The only single issue is the rehabilitation of 100,000 families that has to be taken care by both government and the steel companies,” Bhattacharyya said.
The Jharia project had faced several roadblocks because of protests raised by affected people for proper rehabilitation.
“We are finding out a solution and the broader project plan to implement it,” Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was also present at the programme, said.
Source: IANS
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