India Indigenous People Coal
Adani PEKB coal operations expand despite broken undertakings on coal-dust controls and new hospital
In the Hasdeo forests of central India, the Adani Group is expanding its operations at the contentious PEKB coal mine, despite the project’s failure to abide by conditions imposed in previous years. In September 2024, the Modi government watered down conditions pertaining to the control of emissions of coal dust at the project’s coal washery. In addition, the project proponent has failed to build a hospital, a condition imposed by the government in 2022, despite the deadline for completion of the hospital being February 2024. A prominent environmental campaigner has said that, ‘under no circumstances’, should the government exempt the coal-mine owner from its obligation to build the hospital.
Key facts and figures
Name of project: Parsa East & Kante Basan Opencast Coal Mining Project & Pit Head Washery
Location: Surguja, Chhattisgarh, India
Name of owner: Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (a public-sector enterprise)
Mine Developer & Operator: Parsa Kente Collieries Private Limited [Adani Group (74%), RRUVN (26%)]
Coal reserves: 452 million tons
Peak output: 21 million tons per annum
Washery capacity: 18 million tons per annum
Villages, population affected: 7 villages (Ghatbarra, Salhi, Kedmaforest, Kete, Mahadevpara, Parsa, Hariharpur)
Cost: Rs 2401 crore (US $288 million)
Current status: Operational and expanding
(Note that the name of the PEKB coal mine is sometimes spelt Parsa East and Kente Basan and sometimes Parsa East and Kante Basan)
The government of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has granted environmental approval for the expansion of an integrated coal mine and coal washery operated by an Adani company at the Parsa East and Kante Basan (PEKB) mine. The approval comes even though the owner of the Adani-operated mine has failed to establish a 100-bed multi-specialty hospital for people affected by the project, a condition imposed earlier by the government. The mine and washery are in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The washery ‘cleans’ the coal of impurities before sending it to power plants.
Local communities are upset that the hospital has not been constructed, despite the deadline for completing it having expired earlier this year. The project proponent has made no progress in building the hospital and, in April 2024, sought exemption from establishing it. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (‘the ministry’) declined to provide the exemption.
‘Exemption from constructing the hospital should not be granted under any circumstances,’ Chhattisgarh-based activist Alok Shukla told this correspondent. ‘The terms and conditions set upon the project proponent for going ahead with the coal mine when the environmental clearance was granted were very specific.
‘The project proponent has not only reneged on the condition of constructing a hospital. A number of other terms and conditions have been ignored too.’
The ministry did approve concessions regarding the project proponent’s obligations to prevent pollution from fugitive coal dust.
A public-sector electricity company belonging to the northern Indian state of Rajasthan owns the PEKB coal mine which the Adani Group has been operating on a contractual basis since 2011. The Rajasthan power company is the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RVUN – which translates into Rajasthan State Electricity Generation Corporation). An Adani-owned subsidiary, Parsa Kente Collieries Private Limited, is the contracted MDO (mine developer and operator). Adani Enterprises Limited owns 74% of shares in the MDO company while the remaining shares are held by RVUN. It is not known what role, if any, the Adani subsidiary had in the mine owner’s non-fulfilment of the condition to set up the hospital.
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The project proponent had been directed to construct a hospital as a necessary condition when the Modi government granted environmental approval in February 2022 for the expansion of the coal mine from 15 to 21 MTPA. As per the terms and conditions set out in the environmental clearance letter, the project proponent should have completed construction of the hospital by February 2024. The hospital is intended to cater for the health needs not only of the project-affected villages – Ghatbarra, Salhi, Kedmaforest, Kete, Mahadevpara, Para, Hariharpur – but also for other settlements in and around the PEKB mining lease area in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. Local people, most of them belonging to tribal communities, have been badly impacted by fugitive coal dust from the mine which was established after large-scale deforestation.
‘PP [Project proponent] shall construct a multispecialty hospital of 100 beds for local people within 10 km buffer area of coal mine within 2 years of issue of this EC [environment clearance] letter. Further, this hospital will accept Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana [a central government health assistance scheme for economically marginalized communities] for medical facilities to nearby villagers,’ stated Section (vii) of the environment clearance letter dated 14 February 2022. (Empasis added)
However, in April 2024, the project proponent sought exemption from constructing the hospital, claiming it was too great a financial burden.
‘Cost of construction of hospital would be around Rs 130 crores [US $15.46 million]. In addition to this, recurring annual operation and maintenance cost of 100 bed (sic) around Rs 20 crores [US $2.38 million] will create huge financial burden to RVUN [the corporation] which is beyond the capacity of RVUN. RVUN is currently facing a severe financial crisis which has impacted the ability to meet various financial obligations including pending payment against coal companies and railways,’ the project proponent said in its application.
The proponent attempted to justify its stance further by claiming that its expenditure on 'corporate social responsibility' in the area was already draining its resources.
It said: ‘RUVN [the corporation] is already spending Rs. 7.48/- per MT [metric ton] of coal at present for CSR [corporate social responsibility] as per the EC condition and has already incurred Rs. 5.31 crores over and above the mandated CSR for the year 2022-23.’
The ministry declined to exempt the proponent from its obligation to build the hospital. However, it did grant the corporation a concession regarding conditions pertaining to an approval granted in July 2023 for expansion of the washery from 15 to 18 MTPA.
‘Raw coal washed coal and rejects shall be stored in covered silos or in dome shaped storage facility. Fixed type, high pressure sprinkle shall be installed in this storage yards,’ was a condition set upon the project proponent while granting environmental approval for the washery’s expansion, according to a letter dated 12 July 2023.
The Adani-operated mine has been granted exemption from this condition on the grounds that construction of a dome-shaped storage facility could be a potential source of fire hazard.
In its application letter, the corporation stated: ‘In order to comply with the EC condition and store coal in a covered silo or dome, a structure of height 30 meter is required to be constructed. Such a high dome structure of 30 m spread over 31.14 ha area [the storage area of washed coal and rejects] is like adding on to a potential safety fire hazard and construction of it in mine active area is also technically unrenderable,’ adding ‘coal is by itself a bad conductor of heat and also possesses spontaneous heating property. Together, if it is not ventilated, an occurrence of fire will happen for sure. Hence, covering the whole coal stock in a silo will lead to fiery situation.’
In a meeting held on 18 September 2024, the ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee for analysing impacts of coal-mining projects recommended: ‘Raw coal, washed coal and rejects shall be stacked properly at earmarked site within storage yards fitted with wind breakers/shields. Fixed type high-pressure sprinkler shall be installed in this storage yards.’
Community representatives say that coal dust has caused massive adverse health impacts for the local population.
The Adani-operated PEKB mine was first granted environmental approval on 21 December 2011 for a mine and washery with a capacity of 10 MTPA. The capacity of this washery has subsequently been expanded twice – 10 to 15 MTPA and then to 18 MTPA.
