Gevra and Kusmunda coal mines of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a subsidiary of Coal India located in Chhattisgarh, have got second and fourth place respectively in the list of 10 largest coal mines in the world released by worldatlas.com.
Located in Korba district of Chhattisgarh state, these two mines produce more than 100 million tonnes of coal annually, which is about 10 percent of India's total coal production. The Gevra opencast mine has an annual production capacity of 70 million tonnes. It produced 59 million tonnes of coal in the financial year 2023-24. This mine started operating in the year 1981. Today it has sufficient coal reserves to meet the country's energy needs for the next 10 years.
Kusmunda opencast mine produced more than 50 million tonnes of coal in FY 2023-24, making it the second mine in India to achieve such a significant milestone after Gevra. These mines have deployed some of the largest and most advanced mining machines in the world. One such machine is the “Surface Miner”, which extracts and cuts coal without blasting for environmentally friendly mining operations.
For overburden removal (the process of removing layers of soil, rock etc. to expose the coal seam) the mines also use some of the world's largest HEMMs (heavy earth moving machinery) such as 240 tonne dumpers, 42 cubic metre shovels and vertical rippers for environmentally friendly and blast free OB removal. A large truck on the roadDetails are automatically generated with medium confidence
Speaking on the occasion, SECL Chairman and Managing Director Dr Prem Sagar Mishra said that it is a matter of great pride for Chhattisgarh that two of the five largest coal mines of the world are now located in Chhattisgarh. He expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, State Government, Coal India, Railways, various stakeholders and most importantly the coal warriors who have worked tirelessly to achieve this historic feat.