"Coal India Shifts to Smart Mining via AI, IoT and Digital Infrastructure"
Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)
in-situ conversion of coal to syngas without physical extraction from the seam
Paste Fill
technique using paste mixture to fill mined voids, enabling recovery of coal locked in pillars
Coal India Limited (CIL) is the world's largest coal-producing company and operates under the Ministry of Coal. It accounts for the bulk of India's domestic coal output, which crossed one billion tonnes for two consecutive years recently. Coal remains central to India's energy economy, supplying roughly 55 per cent of primary energy needs and fuelling over 70 per cent of electricity generation. India holds the world's fifth largest coal resource base, assessed at approximately 4,00,715 Million Tonnes.
For decades, CIL's mining operations relied on conventional methods: manual and semi-mechanised underground extraction, basic open-cast blasting, and administrative dispatch systems. Safety incidents, low recovery rates, and environmental degradation were persistent concerns. The sector's nationalisation in the early 1970s prioritised volume over efficiency. As India's energy demand accelerated and its climate commitments deepened, this model became unsustainable. The government's response has been a dual-track strategy: opening coal block auctions to private players under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, and simultaneously pushing CIL to modernise its own operations through digital and clean technologies.
This modernisation drive is directly relevant to India's 2047 energy independence goal. Achieving that goal does not mean abandoning coal overnight. It means extracting coal more efficiently, reducing import dependence (especially for coking coal), cutting the environmental cost of extraction, and building the digital infrastructure that can eventually support a managed energy transition. CIL's technology transformation is therefore both an energy-security measure and a bridge strategy toward cleaner operations, the same logic that underpins the Fourth Industrial Revolution adoption in public-sector enterprises, where digital tools (IoT, AI, cloud ERP) are expected to improve governance, reduce waste, and enable data-driven decision-making across legacy systems.
CIL's technology transformation operates across four domains: exploration, mining operations, infrastructure, and digital enterprise management.
In exploration, CIL has moved from purely invasive core drilling to non-invasive 2D/3D seismic surveys, which reduce the number of boreholes needed by up to 50 per cent. Machine-learning algorithms, including Support Vector Machines, Decision Trees, Random Forest, and XGBoost, interpret geophysical logs (Gamma-ray, Density, Resistivity) to identify coal seam boundaries. CIL has signed an MoU with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to build an AI-powered satellite-based geo-spatial dashboard for mine monitoring and environmental auditing, using LiDAR, drones, and bathymetric surveys.
In open-cast mining, higher-capacity Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM), including 42 cubic-metre shovels and 240-tonne dumpers, has been standardised since 2021. Blast-free surface miners reduce dust, noise, and vibration. Electronic detonators replaced electric ones in 2024-25 for greater safety. AI-based operator fatigue monitoring, proximity warning systems, and automatic fire detection are being integrated into HEMM, supported by AI simulators and VR training environments. …
In India, the steel production industry requires the import of
With reference to two non-conventional energy sources called 'coalbed methane' and 'shale gas', consider the following statements:
1.Coalbed methane is the pure methane gas extracted from coal seams, while shale gas is a mixture of propane and butane only that can be extracted from fine-grained sedimentary rocks.
2.In India, abundant coalbed methane sources exist, but so far no shale gas sources have been found.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements:
I.India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership as a member.
II.India is a resource-rich country in all the 30 critical minerals that it has identified.
III.The Parliament in 2023 has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 empowering the Central Government to exclusively auction mining lease and composite license for certain critical minerals.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Which of the following statements about India's coal sector is/are correct?
1.India is the second largest producer and consumer of coal globally.
2.India's domestic coal reserves are predominantly coking coal, reducing dependence on imports for steel production.
3.The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 was enacted after the Supreme Court cancelled 204 arbitrarily allocated coal blocks.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Consider the following statements regarding Coal India Limited's (CIL) technology transformation:
1.CIL has signed an MoU with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to develop an AI-powered satellite-based geo-spatial dashboard for mine monitoring.
2.Electronic detonators replaced electric detonators in CIL's open-cast mines during 2024-25.
3.The First Mile Connectivity (FMC) programme targets 994 MTY mechanical loading capacity by FY 2029-30.
4.Underground Coal Gasification is being piloted at Kasta in Western Coalfields Limited.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following pairs:
Technology / Method — Purpose in CIL's mining operations
1.Paste Fill — Recovering high-grade coal locked in pillars by providing structural void support
2.Trolley Assist — Electrification support for large diesel-electric dumpers on haul roads
3.Reflux Classifier — A beneficiation technology used in coal washeries
4.CAAQMS — Real-time monitoring of coal seam gas composition underground
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Which of the following correctly matches CIL's Centres of Excellence under NaCCER with their host institutions?
1.CLEANZ — IIT Hyderabad
2.CSE — IIT Madras
3.IMiN — IIT-ISM Dhanbad
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
With reference to CIL's exploration technology, consider the following statements:
1.2D/3D seismic surveys can reduce the number of boreholes required by up to 50 per cent compared to conventional core drilling.
2.Machine-learning techniques such as Random Forest and XGBoost are used to interpret geophysical logs for identifying coal seam boundaries.
3.LiDAR and bathymetric surveys are applied only in the post-mining stage for environmental auditing.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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