Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) has said land acquisition issues are digging a hole into its ambitious plans of capacity augmentation by setting up new projects.
“WCL will be closing nine to ten mines which will cut down the production capacity. Land is a main constraint to start new projects,” WCL Chairman and Managing Director D.C. Garg, who was here to participate in the Global Steel Conference, told PTI here.
He said WCL, a subsidiary of the state-run Coal India Ltd, has 33 projects on the anvil by 2012 with an estimated investment of Rs. 1,800 crore. “These projects are situated in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, but they are not big in size.”
The proposed projects are spread over 12,000 hectares of land of which only 1,240 hectares are in WCL’s possession. An additional 6,000 hectares had been acquired, but they are still not in the company’s control, he said.
WCL looks at these projects to augment capacity.
“Relief and rehabilitation policies of the Centre are a major constrain. The farmers who lose their land for the projects have higher expectations from the company, which does not fit in our policy,” Garg said.
WCL has agreed to pay high compensation, but is not ready to accept the demand of providing jobs to those who lose their land.
