Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), a Miniratna PSU under the Ministry of Coal, is providing financial assistance of Rs 5 crore for the procurement of 50 ambulances to the government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) under its social corporate responsibility (CSR) initiative. In this regard, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between General Manager (CSR) Atmeshwar Pathak from NCL and Additional Chief Executive Officer of UP State Disaster Management Authority Mahendra Singh.

‘This support from NCL will play a pivotal role in strengthening the medical services and will help in the fight against COVID19 Pandemic,’ NCL said in a statement NCL has already extended its support to the administration of Sonbhadra district by providing door-to-door ration packets, sanitizers, masks infrared thermometers, PPE kits, etc., to fight coronavirus.

It is worth mentioning here that NCL has registered 2.2 per cent growth in the coal production in the first five months of the current financial year (FY2020-21) against the same period of last financial year (FY2019-20). During the period NCL has produced 44.3 million tonnes (MT) of coal from April 2020 to August 2020 which is about 2.2 percent higher than 43.3 MT of coal produced in the same period of last fiscal.

The company’s overburden removal has also grown by 20 percent y-o-y with 152.5 million cubic meters removed during this duration. Overburden is material above the coal layer which is to be removed for coal exposure. Similarly, in the first five months of the current financial year, NCL has dispatched a total of 40.7 million tonnes of coal to all its consumers including powerhouses. During this period the company had dispatched 32.7 million tonnes of coal to powerhouses.

NCL has been entrusted with the responsibility of 113.25 MT of coal production and coal dispatch in the current financial year. NCL has also planned to offer 20 MT of coal earmarked as import substitution in 20-21 in an effort to make the country self-reliant. The company, which is headquartered in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh, operates through its 10 highly mechanised opencast mines spread across Singrauli and Sonbhadra districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The company is targeting 113.25 MT of coal production in the current financial year of 2020-21.