CIL says CMPDI is its integral part, won't be separated

"Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) is an integral part of CIL and will not be separated from it," it said. The statement comes amid reports that there are plans to separate the consultancy arm from CIL.

During 2019-20, CMPDI, the consultancy arm of CIL, added 7.8 billion tonnes of coal resources, the highest-ever estimated by CMPDI in a year since its inception. It happened following a detailed exploration covering an area of about 292 sq km through the preparation of 25 geological reports. In addition to this, about 9.75 billion tonnes of new resources were estimated through promotional (regional) exploration covering an area of about 140 sq km through six geological reports.

CMPDI has carried out 12.94 lakh meters of drilling under detailed exploration and 1.16 lakh meters of drilling under promotional (regional) exploration during 2019-2020. Additionally, 32 project reports were prepared in 2019-20 by the consultancy company with capacity addition of about 178 million tonnes per year.

CMPDI also played a pivotal role in providing technical consultancy for 35 CIL's first-mile connectivity projects meant for environment-friendly mechanized handling and dispatch of coal. CMPDI, a fully-owned subsidiary of CIL, is headquartered at Ranchi, Jharkhand. It caters to the consultancy requirements of each of the coal-producing subsidiaries of CIL.