North Eastern Coalfields resumes operations

Coal mines in North Eastern Coalfields (NEC), a unit of Coal India Limited (CIL), resumed operations on Saturday. Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma  inaugurated the resumption of mining operations at Tikak Colliery of NEC at Margherita in Tinsukia District.

The NEC's mining operations were halted in 2020 because of certain environmental issues. NEC presently operates at Tikak Colliery in Margherita with two opencast projects (OCPs) called Tikak OCP and Tikak Extension OCP with a combined coal production capacity of 4 lakh tonne per annum. Starting in the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23, the NEC will also produce coal from its Tirap OCP, aiming to reach 10 lakh tons of coal per year.