Two South Eastern Coalfields mines among world's top 10 largest by production

Gevra and Kusmunda blocks of state-owned South Eastern Coalfields have secured the second and fourth spots, respectively, on the list of the world's 10 largest coal mines in terms of production volume, according to WorldAtlas.com.

Located in the Korba district of Chhattisgarh, these two mines collectively produce over 100 million tonnes (MT) of coal annually, accounting for about 10 per cent of India's total coal production, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) announced on Thursday.

"Gevra and Kusmunda coal mines have secured the 2nd and 4th spots in the list of the world's 10 largest coal mines released by WorldAtlas.com," the statement read.

The Gevra mine has an annual production capacity of 70 MT and produced 59 MT of coal in FY24. Kusmunda mine produced over 50 MT of coal in the same period. Both mines are open-cast projects.

SECL Chairman and Managing Director Prem Sagar Mishra expressed pride, stating, "It is a proud moment that two of the world's five largest coal mines are in Chhattisgarh."

According to the list, Black Thunder Mine and North Antelope Rochelle Mine in the US secured the first and third spots, respectively, with estimated productions of 62.68 MT and 56.25 MT of coal in 2023. Northern Shaanxi Mine in China secured the fifth spot with a production of 41.34 MT last year.

Based in Bilaspur, SECL, with 59 blocks, is among the top three coal-producing subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd (CIL), under the Ministry of Coal. In FY24, CIL's total output was 773 MT, of which SECL contributed 187 MT.

(With PTI inputs)