NTPC to start coal mining from Jharkhand block by March.

NTPC, the country's largest power producer, will foray into coal mining by starting production at its Chatti-Bariatu mines in Jharkhand by the end of the current financial year.

'Production from the Chatti-Bariatu mines is expected to be around 1 million tonnes and will commence by the end of the fiscal,' a company official said. NTPC has ventured into coal mining in a bid to create fuel security. The utility plans to meet about 20 per cent of its requirement of coal from its captive mines by 2017.

The company has been allotted seven coal blocks -- Chatti-Bariatu, Chatti-Bariatu (South), Pakri Barwadih, Kerandari, Brahmani, Chichiro Patsimal and Dulanga. These blocks are in the coal-rich state of Jharkhand, with the exception of Dulanga, which is in Odisha.


ET