India's name included in the list of 10 largest coal mines in the world, both blocks are in Chhattisgarh

Gevra and Kusmunda blocks of public sector company South Eastern Coalfields Limited have grabbed the second and fourth positions respectively in the list of the 10 largest coal mines in the world. WorldAtlas.com has released a list of the largest coal mines based on production volume.

Both these mines, located in the Korba district of Chhattisgarh state, produce more than 100 million tonnes of coal annually and contribute around 10 percent of India's total coal production. Gevra opencast mine has a capacity to produce 70 million tonnes annually and produced 59 million tonnes of coal in FY 2023-24. This mine commenced production in 1981 and has sufficient coal reserves to meet the country's energy requirements for 10 years.

Kusmunda opencast mine has crossed production of more than 50 million tonnes of coal in FY 2023-24, the second mine in India after Gevra. These mines deploy some of the largest and most advanced mining machines in the world, such as 'Surface Miner,' which extracts and cuts coal without blasting for environmentally friendly mining operations.

Overburden removal is done with the world's largest HEMM—240-tonne dumpers, 42 cubic meter shovels, and vertical rippers for environment-friendly, blast-free removal of overburden.

It is, indeed, a proud moment for the state of Chhattisgarh that out of the five largest coal mines in the world are now in the state, said CMD, SECL Prem Sagar Mishra. He expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Environment, State Government, Coal India, Railways, and various stakeholders; above all, he declared the coal workers who worked tirelessly to achieve this historic feat.

In 2004-05, coal production was at 382.62 Million Tonnes which is targeted to increase to 893.19 MT in 2022-23 and 1000 MT in 2023-24. Based in Bilaspur, SECL is one of the top three coal producing subsidiaries of CIL under the Ministry of Coal with 59 blocks.