New Delhi, Feb 18 (PTI) Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC), a leading mining public sector enterprise and the largest lignite seller in the country, on Friday said it has received the approval from the environment ministry to mine the Tadkeshwar lignite block in Gujarat up to the depth of 135 meters.

The company had earlier received approval to mine the lignite block up to the depth of 94 meters.

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"GMDC...has received an amendment to its environment clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest to mine up to a depth of 135 meters from its earlier approved depth of 94 meters at the Tadkeshwar Lignite Mines," the company said in a statement.

The lignite mines in Tadkeshwar is strategically located in Surat, a large industrial belt.

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"We have mined 0.68 mn MT of lignite from the Tadkeshwar mines in 9MFY22 against 0.53 mn MT in 9MFY21. This is indeed a good development and will help us cater to the constantly increasing demand-supply gap and the energy requirements in the state and across the country," GMDC Managing Director Roopwant Singh said.

"For FY21-22, we had a production target of 86.63 lakh MT and we have achieved 65.64 lakh MT till 23/1/2022. During the year 2021-22, lignite production at Bhavnagar mines achieved was 12.86 lakh MT, an increase of 7.92 lakh MT, as against 4.94 Lakh MT in 2020-21," Singh added.

Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation is one of the leading mining players in India. It is a state public undertaking of the Government of Gujarat. It has five operational lignite mines located in Kutch, south Gujarat, and Bhavnagar region.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)