Ambuja Cement's first ever coal mine – Gare Palma coal block – in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district has now become fully operational. Acquired through an e-auction in March 2015, this Green field project will play a crucial role in consolidating Ambuja's position by ensuring energy security with a regular supply of this key raw material for our plants.

This rich coal deposit will, for the next 50 years, safeguard the company against erratic supply of the solid fuel from external sources and widely fluctuating prices, thus supporting the firm's sustainable growth strategy.

The Opencast mine started operations in April 2018; and the first coal was ceremoniously extracted six months later – a momentous event as this was one year ahead of its schedule.

The team's target is to supply about three lakh tonnes of coal by the end of this year. In the future, this coal block will cater to the needs of other Ambuja plants as well. After gradually ramping up coal production that currently gives one unit of coal energy (1kcal) at 90 paise - efforts are on for timely and cost-effective delivery to ensure dispatch of about 30,000 tonnes of this solid fuel to the Bhatapara plant every month, added Pradeep Samanta, Joint President (Coal Block).