A 30-year mining leasing agreement for the Namchik-Namphuk coal mines at Kharsang in Changlang district has been legally signed by the Arunachal Pradesh government and M/s Coal Pulz Pvt Ltd, a company based in Guwahati. After more than ten years of halting coal production, the agreement, signed Thursday in Itanagar by state Geology & Mining secretary A K Singh and Coal Pulz Pvt Ltd director Naveen Singhal, opens the door for coal production to resume. With an estimated yearly production of 2 lakh tonnes under the approved mine plan, mining operations will shortly start, according to State Geology and Mining Minister Wangki Lowang, who attended the ceremony.
The minister said that in addition to producing royalties for the state coffers, the project will assist satisfy the rising need for electricity, improve local economic sustainability, and provide work for young people without jobs. Legal mining would drastically reduce illicit coal production in the area, he said. Lowang pointed out that 29 mines, including Namchik-Namphuk, were up for bid in November 2022 as part of the biggest tranche of commercial coal mine auctions.
The Namchik-Namphuk coalfields in Arunachal Pradesh, with reserves of nearly 15 million tonnes, have been cleared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change and state environment authorities. The open cast coal mine, with a capacity of 0.20 million tonnes per annum, is located within the Namchik Reserve Forest.
