<div><strong>Simar Singh</strong><br><br>Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy on Monday said that state-owned Coal India Limited has clocked in a 9.4 per cent growth rate during the first half of the current fiscal year and expressed confidence that it would certainly achieve the targeted growth of 50 million tonnes in the annual production.</div><div> </div><div>The union minister also claimed that the company had achieved an impressive growth rate in the previous year which was more than the accumulated growth in production during the previous four years when the UPA was in power.</div><div> </div><div>Goyal was in Nagpur to inaugurate two open cast projects of the Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) at Dinesh and Yekona in the industrial Umped area. </div><div> </div><div>He said that the inauguration marked the fulfilment of the assurance that he had previously given, that one new mine would be opened per month.</div><div> </div><div>Cumulatively, the two projects, at their peak, are estimated to add to the current coal production capacity by 6.75 million tonnes. Out of this around 5.7 million tonnes of coal will be given to Maharashtra State Power Company (Mahagenco) and other powerhouses and is expected to generate an additional 1400 megawatts.</div><div> </div><div>Goyal added that these projects would provide job opportunities for 1,773 people and open up hundreds of indirect employment opportunities.</div><div> </div>
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