The Centre is engaged on a plan to incentivize native manufacturing of heavy tools for mining, stated a high authorities official.
Talking on the curtain-raiser for the Worldwide Mining Tools & Minerals Exhibition (IME) 2025, Vikram Dev Dutt, secretary to the Union ministry of coal stated the ministry is working with state-run mining main Coal India Ltd on contours for an incentive scheme.
“There is a component of import dependence, particularly within the import of heavy tools. Though there are segments and components the place we’ve pretty good indigenous manufacturing functionality. We’re actively working in shut collaboration with Coal India to see how the indigenous manufacturing system for equipment might be incentivized,” he stated.
The impetus for native manufacturing of heavy mining tools comes at a time when native manufacturing of coal has gained momentum, reaching a file 1 billion tonne output in 2024-25 to fulfill the rising energy demand.
Coal India imports high-capacity tools, together with electrical rope shovels, hydraulic shovels, dumpers, crawler dozers, drills, motor graders, front-end loaders, and wheel dozers.
An interdisciplinary high-level committee shaped by the federal government in 2023 really helpful standardizing tools to spice up home manufacturing for captive and business mine operators, outsourcing contractors, and departmental tools.
It additionally really helpful that tender clauses ought to promote using indigenous tools to help the ‘Make in India’ mission.
This additionally coincides with the emphasis on native manufacturing of essential minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel, required within the manufacturing of batteries together with their use in numerous strategic areas like defence and telecommunication.
Addressing the media, the coal secretary additionally stated in a bid to decrease the import dependence of thermal coal, efforts are being made to mix home coal to some extent in imported coal-based crops.
He stated the Central Electrical energy Authority (CEA) is engaged on a technical analysis and based mostly on there can be additional consideration on what quantum of imported coal may be changed with home coal at ICB crops.
The coal ministry has been stressing on these ICB crops to vary their technical specs to be able to use extra of home coal because the native manufacturing of the commodity has elevated previously few years.
There are 17 imported coal-based crops in India with a cumulative energy technology capability of practically 18 gigawatts. Their whole each day coal requirement stands at 184,100 tonnes.
Highlighting the expansion in coal manufacturing, Dutt reiterated the federal government’s dedication to extend coal manufacturing by about 42% to 1.53 billion tonnes in 2030-31 from 1.08 million tonnes recorded in 2024-25.
