Northern Coalfields Ltd

Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), Singrauli is a major contributor towards fulfilling the energy requirement of the nation. NCL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coal India Limited, under the Ministry of Coal, Government of India, and Mini Ratna (Category-I) company since 2007.

NCL operates primarily with the objective of producing coal with due regard to social upliftment, sustainable development, and environmental gradation. It is an ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 certified company. The organization’s main products include non-coking coal in the range of grades G5 to G13 besides ‘De-shale Coal’ and the ‘Coal Rejects’. About 86% of the coal produced is dispatched to the Power Sector. NCL has a share of about 15% in the nation’s total coal production i.e. a contribution of about 10% in total power generation.

NCL was formed in November 1985 encompassing Singrauli Coalfield, carved out of Central Coalfields Ltd., with its headquarters at Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh. The area of Singrauli Coalfield is about 2202 sq. km. The Coalfield can be divided into two basins, viz. Moher sub-basin (312 sq. km) and Singrauli Main basin (1890 sq. km). NCL has a total coal reserve of 10.06 Billion Tonnes (BT) (6.83 BT in the Moher Sub-basin and 3.23 BT in the Main Basin). A major part of the Moher sub-basin lies in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh and a small part lies in the Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. All the coal mining operations of NCL are at present concentrated in the Moher Sub-basin through 10 numbers of opencast mines. Singrauli’s main basin lies in the western part of the coalfield and is largely unexplored.

In NCL, there are 10 numbers of opencast mines where coal (sub-bituminous coal, i.e. non-coking coal in the range of grades G5 to G-13) is being exploited by (i) Shovel-Dumper combination and (ii) Surface Miner.  Currently, NCL has a fleet of 1239 equipment for production.

NCL has produced 122.43 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal i.e. 102.88% of the target in FY 2021-22 with 6.42% growth over the previous year. It was for the 4th consecutive year, that NCL surpassed the 100 MT milestone. NCL is one among the 3 subsidiaries of CIL to cross 100 MT in FY 2021-22. NCL dispatched 125.66 MT coal i.e. 99.34% of the target in FY 2021-22 with 15.66% growth over the previous year. The target for coal production and offtake will be the same in 2022-23 i.e., 122.00 MT each, respectively. The coal supplies from NCL have made it possible to produce about 10515 MW of electricity from pithead power plants having a power generation capacity of 13295 MW. In addition, NCL is also supplying coal to up-country power plants in different states of the nation.