Media reports suggest that Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) may get environmental clearance to mine the Suliyary coal block in Madhya Pradesh soon.

   It is also learnt that production may start after four years at the block. The coal block is expected to meet 60 per cent of the coal requirement for thermal power plants in Andhra Pradesh and the remaining will be imported, reports indicate.

   Recently, AP Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has directed APMDC to allot the entire coal mined from the Suliyary block to the thermal power plants in the state.  This means the state will get around 5 million tonne of coal for its thermal power plants. Several thermal power plants have been proposed to be set up in the state which will be ready to produce power after coal blocks are allotted.

   The state proposes to generate an additional 2,000 mw of thermal power in the next four years for which 9.2 million tonne of coal is required. The government is also planning to convert the proposed gas-based power plants at Sankarapally and Nedunur in Telangana into coal-based thermal power plants if sufficient coal is available.

   Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) is said to have produced 52 million tonne of coal last year, of which it supplied 33 million tonne to power plants in the state.