Shri PM Prasad, Chairman of Coal India Limited, conducted a visit to the Ib Valley Coalfields to oversee the coal mining and despatch operations. This visit marked his first time at Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) since assuming the position of Coal India Chairman. Shri Prasad was welcomed by Shri JK Bohra, Director (Technical/Operations), Shri AK Behura, Director (Finance), and Shri AS Bapat, Director (Technical/Projects & Planning).

During his visit, Shri Prasad chaired a meeting of the Corporate Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of MCL. Subsequently, he inspected the mining operations at the Belpahar opencast project and Lakhanpur opencast project.

Additionally, Shri Prasad visited the upcoming Ib Valley Coal Washery in Lakhanpur Area, which is set to become the largest non-coking coal washery in Coal India with a capacity of 10 MTPA. He assessed the coal beneficiation process and the operational arrangements at the washery, which is scheduled to commence operations later this year.

Furthermore, Shri Prasad examined the progress of the under-construction New Y-curve Railway Siding. This railway siding will play a crucial role in increasing coal despatch from Samleshwari OCP of Ib Valley Area.