Kusmunda Coal Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Kusmunda Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Korba, Chhattisgarh, India.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Kusmunda Coal Mine	Korba, Chhattisgarh, India	22.332635, 82.666666 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1978	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
50	43.5	2022	Surface	Open Pit	18.54	50*	2017

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
713.24	2022	1105	Korba	Lignite	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
South Eastern Coalfields Ltd	Coal India Ltd [100.0%]	India

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	26	40	42	37	28	43	49

Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Proposed	Pre-Permit	Expansion	Stage 2	–	–

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

The Kusmunda coal mine is an open cast mine complex, operated by South Eastern Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India, with a capacity of 62.5 million tonnes-per-annum (MTPA) in Korba, Chhattisgarh, India. South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a subsidiary of Coal India operates the Kusmunda coal mine, which opened in 1979.

The mine is located in the south-central part of Korba Coalfields, and is a part of Eastern Sector of Jatraj, Resdi, and Sonpuri Blocks.

• Operator: South Eastern Coalfields Limited
• Owner: Coal India
• Location: Korba, Chhattisgarh, India
• Coordinates: 22.332635, 82.666666 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 22.8 Mtpa (2021)
• Total Resource:
• Mineable Reserves: 779.39 MT (2020)
• Coal Type: Thermal G-11
• Mine Size: 1449.864 ha
• Mine Type: Surface, opencast
• Start Year: 1979
• Source of Financing:
• Permits: Environment Clearance for expansion of the Kusmunda Coal Mine, MoEF&CC India, 3 February 2016

Expansion

The mine has rapidly scaled-up capacity since 2009 when the mine produced 10 million tonnes per year.

In February 2014, India's Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change granted environmental clearance (EC) to SECL to expand the mine's capacity from 15 MTPA to 18 MTPA.

In 2015, SECL put forth another proposal to expand the capacity of the mine (despite reports that the mine was already operating above capacity without an appropriate EC), and in February 2016, the project was granted EC to expand capacity from 18.75 MPTA to 26 MTPA.

In December 2017, in an effort to "meet the country's demand for coal," SECL again applied for an expansion to nearly double the production from 26 MTPA to 50 MTPA (normative) and 62.5 MTPA (peak). The government granted permission in July 2018 amidst protests. An additional mine lease area of 1127.588 hectares would be required for this expansion, thus bringing the Kusmunda mine's total land to 3510.348 hectares. This project is planned to occur in two stages: during phase I, mining will increase over the existing land area of 1655.825 hectares, whereas during phase II, mining will increase over additional forest land. According to SECL's 2019-20 Annual Report, phase I is already operating, and the mine's production capacity has increased from 40 MTPA to 62.5 MTPA. However, phase II isn't yet fully operational due to a pending forest clearance for approximately 44 more hectares of the requested forest land.

In January 2020, the environment ministry approved the above proposal of mine expansion for another 30 years.

Expansion Details

• Status: Phase I, Operating; Phase II, Proposed
• Capacity: 22.5 MTPA
• Mineable Reserves:
• Start Year:
• Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.