Coal India arm NCL plans to relocate township in MP having 600 MT of mineable coal underneath

Coal India arm NCL is planning a huge rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) project and is working on relocating the residents from the township in Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli, which has 600 million tonnes of mineable coal underneath, company's CMD B Sairam said.

Talking to reporters here, Sairam said Morwa township in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, is spread across 927 hectares.

The project, which is quite huge, will have its own share of challenges as it will involve relocation of the entire Morwa township of Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL).

"The good thing is that in this acquisition, the people are ready to relocate. So half of the problem is solved because the first resistance comes from the people only," the chairman and managing director (CMD) said.

Once people are ready, the only thing to decide is the rates of the compensation and the R&R benefits, he said.

For the last six months, NCL has been regularly negotiating with the people on rehabilitation and resettlement.

"Based on the combination of past disbursements, the mandatory provisions and the call taken by the people residing in these areas and what is being given by the private commercial coal blocks coming up in the region, we have been able to reach a consensus and all the parameters of compensation and R&R are firmed up," he explained.

The CMD said the relocation of the township has to take place as one of its coal mines -- Jayant block -- is moving closer to this township and within another two years it will reach 500 metres of the residential area, which would hinder the mining operations.

The district administration is helping NCL on this and details of the first phase of R&R needs to be chalked out, he said, adding, "From May, we will start handing out its first compensation cheque."

The tenancy land of 572.5 hectares is to be vacated in the first phase, the CMD said.

According to the sources, the company is still working out the finer details of the plan that includes the financial implication.

The Morwa township R&R project will be huge and is likely to entail an estimated expenditure of more than Rs 20,000 crore.

The project will affect 30,000 families and will involve the relocation of 22,000 houses, structures.

The total area for which the relocation being planned is 927 hectares, including 205.8 hectares of forest land, 572.5 hectares of tenancy/private land, and 149.3 hectares of government land.

The company is planning to ramp up the capacity of Jayant coal mine from 30 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 35 MTPA by 2026-27.

The company is expecting a big jump in capex target in the coming fiscal year, the CMD said, adding that a chunk of its over Rs 4,000 crore capex will be spent on land compensation.

NCL's capex for the current fiscal year will be in the range of Rs 2,500-2,600 crore.

The PSU company produced 136.2 million tonnes of coal in 2023-24. The miniratna company under the Ministry of Coal is targetting production of 139 MT coal in the current fiscal year.

The company accounts for 14 per cent of the total coal produced in the country, contributing to 10 per cent of the country's total electricity generation.

The Singrauli-headquartered company operates through its 10 mechanised opencast mines across Singrauli and Sonebhadra districts of MP and UP, respectively.