Importing coal unjustified as country has huge reserves: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said importing coal is "unjustified" at a time when the country is sitting on reserves totalling 300 billion tonne.

"When the country is sitting on a huge coal reserve, to import it is unjustified. The production of coal has risen from 432 million tonne to 460 million tonne and will cross 493 million tonne this year, which will be an increase of over 30 million tonne," Goyal told a press conference here.

The Union minister of state for Coal said that the BJP-led government at Centre has accorded a top priority to coal and generation of power and that all-out efforts are being made to supply coal to electricity generating units across the country.

"The government is also giving mines to states to meet the requirement," the minister said, adding the production of coal by the Coal India Limited has gone up by seven per cent since the BJP government came to power last year.

On the occasion, Goyal hailed Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), a Coal India subsidiary, for pulling the loss-making company out of red and producing 38 million tonne of coal. He said WCL will open a new mine every month.

Goyal said he was surprised to know that around eight crore housewives in the country burn coal to cook food.

Earlier, he inaugurated Penganga open cast mine at Wani in neighbouring Chandrapur district. The mine has the production capacity of four million tonne. Goyal also dedicated to nation Makardhokra Open Cast and Bhangegaon Open Cast mines having capacity of 2 million tonne and one million tonne, respectively.

Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Hansraj Ahir along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Power Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule were present on the occasion.

Goyal also commented upon the installation of LED bulbs as street lights in Mumbai at the press conference. He said that Mumbai will be able to save up to Rs 80 crore per year with installation of LED bulbs as street lights.

He said Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), which regulates street lights in the metropolis will not have to spend anything for installations of the LED lights. Mumbai is among various cities for Centre's LED light project.

"There will be huge saving on the street light as well as in domestic sector in the due course," Goyal told reporters during the inauguration of a coal mine here.

"I don't know, why some people opposed.. may be (they) wanted to give it to some private parties," he said referring to the recent criticism of the project by Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, without naming Sena or any leader.

Raut in an article in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Friday had objected to the BJP-backed plan to install LED lights in the city. The Government is following a transparent procedure of e-tendering to acquire the required quantity of LED lights, Goyal said, adding that in next three years, entire country will have only LED lights in public as well as domestic sphere.

The minister said with energy-efficient LED lights, demand of electricity will be down by 10,000 MW and lead to savings to the tune of Rs 12,500 crore. To a query, he said the Centre was procuring LED bulbs in bulk purchase.