New Delhi: The government on Thursday approved the Rs155 crore expansion of Rajmahal Coalfields to take the annual production capacity at its opencast mines (mining done at the surface) to 17 million tonnes, primarily aimed at increasing supplies to the NTPC facilities in Jharkhand.

“The Cabinet committee on infrastructure gave its approval for implementing the Rajmahal Opencast Expansion Project for expansion from 10.5 million to 17 million tonnes per annum capacity on partial outsourcing mode with an estimated capital investment of Rs153.82 crore,” urban development minister Jaipal Reddy said.

Rajmahal Coalfields, under the aegis of the Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of state-run Coal India Ltd, is working to complete the expansion before the end of the current plan period (2007-12).

Reddy said that the expanded capacity will serve the linked customers of the coal major, mainly NTPC, to meet their demand.

Power major NTPC’s Kahalgaon and Farakka facilities have been complaining of coal shortage.