"State Coal PSU Expands Mining, Renewables and Critical Minerals"
Navratna
Status given to large, profitable central public sector enterprises granting them greater financial autonomy.
HELE generation
High-Efficiency, Low-Emission coal technology using supercritical/ultra-supercritical boilers to cut emissions.
NLC India Limited began as the Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a public sector lignite miner in Tamil Nadu, and has since grown into a Navratna enterprise under the Ministry of Coal. Coal and lignite remain central to India's power system even as renewables expand, because thermal plants supply continuous baseload power that intermittent solar and wind cannot match on their own. The coal sector's institutional structure has changed substantially over time: mining was nationalised in 1973 under the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act during Indira Gandhi's government, and after the Supreme Court cancelled a batch of earlier discretionary allocations in 2014, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 introduced competitive auctions as the standard method of allotting coal blocks.
India's climate diplomacy adds a second layer. At COP26, India announced the 'Panchamrit' commitments: reaching 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, meeting half of energy needs from renewables by 2030, cutting the carbon intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030, reducing projected emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. A legacy coal-and-lignite miner repositioning itself as an integrated energy company with a dedicated renewables arm reflects this same national trajectory of decarbonising while still expanding fossil-based baseload capacity.
Baseload power is the minimum continuous electricity a grid must supply, and coal and lignite anchor this role because they generate power regardless of weather. To limit the environmental cost, High-Efficiency, Low-Emission (HELE) generation uses supercritical and ultra-supercritical boiler technology, which operates at higher steam pressures to burn less coal per unit of power. First Mile Connectivity refers to dedicated rail evacuation from the mine head, replacing road haulage and cutting diesel-linked emissions and logistics cost.
On the clean-energy side, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Pumped Storage Projects (PSP) both address renewables' core weakness, intermittency, by storing surplus power for release when generation dips. Green hydrogen, made by using renewable electricity to split water in an electrolyzer, is being piloted as a zero-carbon fuel and feedstock, alongside carbon capture systems that trap CO2 from industrial processes. …
Consider the following statements:
1.Coal sector was nationalized by the Government of India under Indira Gandhi's tenure.
2.Currently, coal blocks are allocated on lottery basis.
3.India, till recent times, imported coal to meet the shortages of domestic supply, but now India is self-sufficient in coal production.
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?
Consider the following statements regarding India's critical minerals framework:
1.The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023 empowers the Central Government to auction composite licenses for identified critical minerals.
2.Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) was set up to secure critical mineral assets in foreign countries.
3.India is fully self-sufficient in the domestic production of all minerals identified as 'critical' by the Ministry of Mines.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding the coal sector in India:
1.The coal mining industry was nationalised during the tenure of the Indira Gandhi government.
2.Coal blocks are currently allocated primarily through a competitive auction process.
3.India has achieved complete self-sufficiency in coal and no longer imports any coal.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding India's 'Panchamrit' commitments announced at COP26:
1.India committed to reaching 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.
2.India committed to meeting 50% of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030.
3.India committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2047.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following statements about NLC India Limited (NLCIL) is/are correct?
1.It functions as a Navratna enterprise under the Ministry of Coal.
2.Its dedicated renewable energy arm is named NLCIL Renewables Limited (NIRL).
3.It currently operates close to 60 MTPA of mining capacity.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
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