An official for India’s state-owned producer Coal India Ltd. (CIL) revealed that 66 of its 123 most costly projects are facing some kind of delay as the country eyes a target of 20 billion metric tons (mt) by 2020. According to media outlets in India, officials have marked 57 projects as active. Of the 66 delayed, 34 are behind schedule due to delays in forestry clearances and another 17 are running behind because of land acquisition and related problems. Another seven have been hung up by a delay or discontinuance of work or non-participation by a contractor. Legal issues have delayed another five, and three have a lack of railway infrastructure.
Officials said that the 123 projects all have costs exceeding Rs 20 crore (approximately $4.6 million). In the last fiscal year, the miner completed eight projects of the same cost with an ultimate capacity of 48.23 million mt annually. Six projects commenced production in 2015-16. In all, nine projects with a combined capacity of 159 million mt and capital investment of Rs 26,480.74 crore were scheduled by the CIL board for the fiscal year. CIL makes up 80 of India’s coal production. At the end of April, the miner had 413 mines, 207 underground, 176 opencast and 30 mixed.
