Coal India Board Approves Listing Of Arm South Eastern Coalfields

Coal India Ltd. board on Tuesday gave its in–principle approval for listing of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. The Ministry of Coal last week advised CIL to take concrete steps to ensure further listing of subsidiaries Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. and SECL in the upcoming financial year.

"Accordingly, CIL Board through circular resolution has accorded in –principle approval for listing of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) and the same shall be communicated to MoC for onward submission to DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management)," the company said in an exchange filing.

The proposed listing of SECL is subject to various regulatory approvals, including clearances from market regulator SEBI and the completion of internal restructuring if required.

Coal India did not disclose any further details on the SECL listing.

South Eastern Coalfields operates mines mainly in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The company has its headquarter at Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh and accounts for a massive share of CIL's total production.

The company is set to become the first coal PSU in India to adopt paste fill technology for coal mining — marking a major step toward sustainable and environmentally friendly mining practices.

Paste filling is a modern underground mining method that eliminates the need to acquire surface land. After coal extraction, the mined-out voids are filled with a specially prepared paste made from fly ash, crushed overburden from opencast mines, cement, water, and binding chemicals. This process prevents land subsidence and ensures the structural stability of the mine.

To implement this innovative underground mining technology, SECL signed a Rs 7,040 crore agreement with TMC Mineral Resources Pvt. in April.

Mahanadi Coalfields was carved out of SECL in 1992 with its headquarters at Sambalpur. It operates four joint ventures: Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd., MJSJ Coal Ltd., MNH Shakti Ltd. and Mahanadi Coal Railway Ltd. The company had a total production of 193.26 MT in fiscal 2022-23.

Shares of Coal India settled 3.6% higher at Rs 400.35 on the BSE, ahead of the announcement, compared to flat benchmark Sensex. The stock is up 4% on a year-to-date basis.