Under Ground Coal Mining

• Coal Ministry: promote underground coal mining
• 70% coal reserves can be mined underground, but only 5% utilized
• Need
  • opencast mining causes more harm to environment
  • inline with india’s NDC’s
  • $\uparrow$ pwr demand
  • to curb imports, import bill
• Initiatives
  • PLI
  • B2 category projects (no govt approval needed)

Categorization of Coal Mining Projects

• A: Needs Govt approval
• B1: Needs EIA approval by State env impact assessment authority
• B2: renders fast approval