New Delhi | Aug 08, 2016: Odisha has sought cancellation of Tentuloi coal block allocated to OTPCL in the state and allot another suitable mine in lieu of it.

"On the basis of references received from Chief Minister of Odisha regarding cancellation of Tentuloi coal block and allotment of another suitable coal block in lieu thereof due to difficult geo-mining condition and prohibitively high cost of extraction of coal from deep mine etc, a report was sought from...CMPDI," Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal informed Rajya Sabha.

The report of Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI), a Coal India arm, states that Tentuloi coal block is having geological reserves of 1,730 million tonnes (MT) with extractable reserves of around 700 MT which may be amenable to opencast mining, Goyal said.

The said report was referred to Energy Department of Government of Odisha which has observed that coal block will not be suitable for the power plant of Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL) due to technical and operational adversity likely to be felt in extraction of coal from this block.

To bring about more clarity on this issue, it was decided to constitute a committee by CMPDI and co-opt a member nominated by the Odisha government, he said, adding that the report of the panel is awaited.

Further, Baitarani East, a CIL block is already having an operational "Open Cast Project" under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, another Coal India arm, he said.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)