Minister Kariya Munda was speaking at the Mining, Geological & Metallurgical Institute of India’s (MGMI) international conference last week.

Munda said there had been declining production from underground mines despite their output being generally better quality. Consequently, he said the government had been active in encouraging the shift towards underground operation because of the successes of modern technologies such as the continuous miner and longwall, The Hindu reported. The government wished to encourage public and private coal companies to adopt these technologies.

The government also realised the increasing need for private investment in the coal industry and had introduced legislation to facilitate this, The Hindu said.

Through an increased emphasis on underground production, India plans to meet domestic coal demand with local supply. The country currently imports 23 million tonnes of coal per year, despite having large reserves.

The Hindu said India’s coal was of an inferior quality to that of other countries. To combat this Munda said coal companies should adopt modern technologies in both extraction and beneficiation of coal that would satisfy customer’s needs.