CIL Chairman visits MCL mines, lays foundation of Rs 285 cr FMC project

Sambalpur: Chairman Coal India Limited (CIL) Pramod Agrawal today laid the foundation stone of Rs 285.05 crore first mile connectivity (FMC) project — Lajkura SILO, which would add 15 million tonne per annum despatch capacity to the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).

The Chairman, who has arrived on a two-day visit to Ib Valley coalfields of MCL, laid the foundation stone of Lajkura SILO, under Ib Valley Area, in the presence of PK Sinha, MCL CMD, OP Singh, Director (Tech/Operations), KR Vasudevan, Director (Finance), Keshav Rao, Director (Personnel) and Baban Singh, Director (Tech./Project & Planning).

Agrawal inspected mining operations at Lakhanpur OCP (21 MTY), Belpahar OCP (9 MTY), Lajkura OCP (4.5 MTY) and Samleshwari OCP (15 MTY) and interacted with field managers. Motivating field teams, the Chairman also rewarded the best performers in projects.

The Chairman also commissioned four 100 tonne dumpers and one mobile water sprinkler at Samleshwari OCP.

He also visited the under-construction Ib Valley Washery (10 MTY) under Lakhanpur Area and reviewed the progress of work.

In a first in Coal India, Agrawal inaugurated the new Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) at MCL and inspected mining operations at Lingaraj OCP and Bhubaneswari OCP in Talcher coalfields.

Designed by the MCL’s Innovation Cell and the Department of E&T, the portal named “Vihangam’ for remote monitoring was created by a Mumbai-based start-up of drone manufacturing, robotics, and automation.   

This innovative initiative, which will enable the company to access real-time video through the internet, will pave the way for other allied potential use-cases of drones in mines.

The Chairman also chaired a senior officers’ meeting at headquarters and reviewed the performance of the company. 

Carrying forward the vision of Sustainable Mining, MCL is implementing nine FMC projects to provide pollution-free state-of-the-art rake loading system at a total capital expenditure of Rs 3,600 crore. This will also generate a despatch capacity of 126 million tonne per year, expected to be achieved by year 2024.

MCL was the first coal company to introduce environment-friendly Surface Mining technology in 1999. The biggest fleet of 66 Surface Miners is contributing 95 per cent to the total coal production of the company.