Govt announces ₹40,000 cr corpus for mine closures

New Delhi: The Union minister of coal and mines G. Kishan Reddy, on Wednesday, launched a corpus of around ₹40,000 crore for closing mines in a scientific way. The government has set a target to shut 147 coal mines in the next two to three years, according to a statement from the coal and mines ministry.

The minister made the announcement at the release of AAROH: Annual Report on Mine Closure in the national capital. The report tracks 42 scientifically closed coal mines, showing how reclamation and community efforts restored them into usable land.

He said that the coal ministry has built a sustainable ecosystem for mine closure.

"For the first time, 25% of the approved mine closure cost has been earmarked for community development, creating an investment potential of nearly ₹10,000 crore over the next decade. The government has created a dedicated corpus of over $5 billion (around ₹40,000 crore) for scientific mine closure and progressive mine closure, demonstrating its long-term commitment to environmentally responsible mining, ecological restoration and the socio-economic development of mining-affected regions," Reddy said.

Pact with Germany

Further, the ministry also signed the implementation agreement with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a German development agency, for technical cooperation on ‘to-be closed mines’.

The ministry said the pact will strengthen India-Germany cooperation on mine closure and repurposing. Backed by Germany's BMZ and co-financed by the EU, the €10 million project runs until 2030.

Coal secretary Vikram Dev Dutt described mine closure as a critical stage in the life cycle of mining, where responsible resource extraction must transition into long-term environmental restoration, land repurposing and sustainable community development.

The cooperation will take place over the next four years, focusing on developing innovative and sustainable approaches for the closure and repurposing of coal mines in India. This investment by Germany and the European Union reflects Team Europe’s strong partnership with India to deepen cooperation on sustainable economic development, a priority reaffirmed at the 16th India–EU Summit and the visit of the German chancellor to India this year.