The Parliamentary Committee (PC) on coal announced on 01 August, 2023, that the Ministry of Coal will implement 35 first-mile connectivity (FMC) projects in Phase-I with a capacity of 414.5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) in FY24. Besides these 35 projects, nine more have been taken up, which will cater to the dispatch of another 57 MTPA of coal.

The FMC projects would ensure the timely delivery while also helping to reduce pollution produced by road-hauling coal. Among these 35 FMC projects, six projects with a capacity of 82 MTPA have already been commissioned, and three projects with a capacity of 30 MTPA are anticipated to be completed by March 2023.

Under Phase-II, out of the nine FMC projects, three projects of 14 MTPA capacity are under the development stage, and six are in different stages of formulation and tendering. After the implementation of Phase-I and II,  Coal India (CIL) will increase the mechanised evacuation to 623 MTPA by FY25.

CIL will be undertaking 59 FPC projects in three phases, with 33 projects in Phase-I, nine projects in Phase-II and 17 projects in Phase-III. In addition, NLC India (NLCIL) is undertaking three projects, and Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) is undertaking five FMC projects, three in Phase-I and one each in Phase-II and Phase-III.

Moreover, seven projects from CIL  and two projects from SCCL have previously been commissioned. Another 18 CIL projects are anticipated to be completed by December, 2023.