Allot four Odisha mines to MCL instead of WCL: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today wrote to the Ministry of Coal asking him to allot four mines of Odisha to the State-based Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) instead of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) headquartered in Maharashtra.

It may be noted that the Union Ministry has proposed to allot four Odisha mines - Rampia, Dip side of Rampia, Ghogarpalli and Dip Extension of Ghogarpalli to the WCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL).

Stating that the operationalisation of coal mines requires close coordination with the local administration for land acquisition, rehabilitation, and resettlement of project affected families, CM Patnaik, in his letter to Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said that MCL is in a better position to tackle these issues in comparison to the CIL's subsidiary located away from the state.

'The WCL with its headquarters at Nagpur in Maharastra may not be in a position to effectively operationalise the coal mines proposed to be allotted. However, the MCL which has achieved a record production of more than 143 million tonnes of coal during the financial year 2017-18 and with a more focused approach towards rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected families, can grow further in partnership with the local communities,' read Patnaik’s letter.

Patnaik further stated that in case MCL is unable to handle more coal mines in view of existing commitments, the Coal India may consider to set up another subsidiary for Talcher Coalfield.

On January 19, the ministry of coal announced that it was going to allot 11 coal mines to CIL which are expected to increase the annual production of the company by 225 million tonnes. Out of the total 11, four from Odisha were decided to be allotted to the WCL.