Gevra & Kusmunda coal mine included in World’s 10 largest coal mines

Two coal mines in Chhattisgarh, Gevra and Kusmunda, have been included in WorldAtlas.com’s top ten coal mines of the world. These two coal mines in Chhattisgarh account for about 10 % of the country’s annual coal production, and their combined coal production was more than 100 million tons in 2023-24.

Indonesia dominates the top ten coal mines list, with four mines, and the United States Black Thunder Mine has been ranked the world’s largest coal mine.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, and India is the second largest producer.

The United States of America has the largest known coal reserves in the world. 

About Gevra Open Cast Mine 

The Gevra Mine in the Korba district of Chhattisgarh is owned by the  South Eastern Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of the central government-owned Coal India Limited.

It is an open-cast mine that started production in 1981. It mines mainly bituminous-grade coal. The mine has a production capacity of 70 million tonnes and is expected to remain in operation until 2036. In the fiscal year 2023=24, 59 million tons of coal were mined from the Gevra mine. 

Kusmunda Open Cast Mine 

Kusmunda, an open-cast mine, is also owned by South Eastern Coalfields Limited. It is located in the south-central part of the Korba Coalfields, which started operating in 1979. 

It produced 50 million tonnes of coal in 2023-24 and is expected to remain operational until 2036. 

Bituminous-grade coal is mined at the Kusmunda mines.

Types of Coal 

Depending on the carbon content, coal is classified into anthracite, bituminous, lignite and Peat.

Anthracite coal has the highest carbon content, 80-95 %. Bituminous coal has a 40-80 % carbon content, lignite, also known as brown coal, has a 40-55 % carbon content, and peat coal has less than 40-55 % carbon content.

Coal Mining in India 

• The East India Company started the first commercial coal mining in India in 1774 at the Raniganj Coalfield along the Damodar River in present-day West Bengal.
• According to the Union Ministry of Coal, India's total proven coal reserves as of 1 April 2022 was 361411.46 million tonnes. 
• The largest coal reserve was in Odisha, followed by Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
• The total production of coal in the country was 997.25  million tonnes in 2023-24.
• Jharkhand was the top coal-producing state in the country, followed by Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. 

Top Ten Coal Mines of the World 

According to WorldAtlas.com, the following is the list of the top coal-producing coal mines of the world.