Coal India on Friday said it would ramp up underground production four-fold to 100 million tonnes (mt) by 2029-30 from 25.6mt in FY22.

A thrust on underground mining will lessen the problems of land acquisition.

The public sector miner said it is looking to minimise adverse environmental impact by using eco-friendly technologies.

Coal India said in a statement on Friday that since 1975, underground coal mining output has contracted 57.7 per cent till FY22 while open cast production has expanded 8.5 times.

The main concern with underground mining was loss incurring production, long gestation period, lack of skilled labour and unavailability of indigenous equipment.

However, the miner said that mass production technologies and indigenous equipment are now available along with skilled labour.

Further, the gestation period has come down and outsourcing to contractors would scale down the cost of production.

Locked-up coal assets left out earlier due to techno-commercial and safety concerns can now be unearthed using the available technology.

Among mass production technologies, Coal India plans to introduce 50 continuous miners by FY25 with a peak production potential of 25mt per year.