Guwahati, Mar 26 (PTI) Coal mining at North Eastern Coalfields (NEC) resumed on Saturday after Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi inaugurated the operations at Tikak Colliery in Assam’s Tinsukia district.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present on the occasion.
Mining operations at NEC, a unit of Coal India Limited (CIL), were halted due to environment-related issues in 2020.
The resumption of mining operations at Tikak Colliery is a very important step towards the development of the region, Joshi said.
“The coal quality of NEC is superior to those found in other parts and is in much demand by several domestic industries of the country”, he said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked the Union Minister for his proactive initiatives for resuming mining operations at Tikak Colliery at Margherita.
With the restart of mining operations at Tikak Colliery, the state government has fulfilled yet another promise made to the people during the last assembly election, Sarma said.
Highlighting that the Assam Government is committed to maintaining a balance between development and the environment, the chief minister said While operationalising Tikak Colliery, we have ensured that mining activities continue in sync with nature.
“Our government has extended all co-operation to Coal India Limited in resolving environmental and all other issues that had stalled the functioning of the North Eastern Coalfields”.
NEC presently operates in Tikak Colliery with two opencast projects (OCPs) namely Tikak OCP and Tikak Extension OCP with a combined coal production capacity of 4 lakh tonne per annum.
NEC will also start producing coal from its Tirap Open Cast Mine from 2022-23 fiscal with a target to produce 10 lakh tonne of the mineral per annum.