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The Talabira II & III Open Cast Coal Mine in Odisha recorded its highest-ever annual production of 19.14 MT in FY 2025-26, up 11.28 per cent year on year, along with a record annual dispatch of 17.69 MT.
The mine was allocated to NLC India Ltd on 2 May 2016 under Schedule III of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, through the Nominated Authority route, and lies across the Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts.
Cumulative production has reached 72.23 MT and cumulative dispatch 70.89 MT up to 14 August 2026; of FY 2025-26 dispatch, about 10.72 MT went to the power sector and 6.97 MT to the non-regulated sector.
The mine reports nil fatal accidents since inception and a Five-Star Rating under the Ministry of Coal's Star Rating Evaluation for five consecutive years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.
It supports 3,277 employment opportunities — 1,277 direct and about 2,000 indirect — and spent Rs 5.32 crore on CSR in FY 2025-26, with a further Rs 4.20 crore up to July 2026.
Enacted after the Supreme Court cancelled 204 coal block allocations. Those 204 blocks are the Act's Schedule I mines; the 42 producing or ready-to-produce blocks among them form Schedule II; and 32 substantially developed blocks meant for specified end-use form Schedule III — the schedule under which Talabira II & III was allocated to NLC India Ltd. The Act also empowers the Central Government to allot Schedule I mines directly to government companies.
The parent mining statute. Coal mines are allocated under this Act as well as the 2015 Act; the Ministry of Coal has allotted 213 coal mines under the two Acts, of which 131 were auctioned for commercial mining on a revenue-share basis.
Amended both the MMDR Act, 1957 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, and removed the end-use restriction that had confined auctioned Schedule II and III coal to power generation and steel. Companies may now mine coal for own consumption, sale or any other purpose the Central Government specifies — the change that opened commercial coal mining. The enabling ordinance took effect from 10 January 2020.
Navratna central public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, incorporated in 1956 and historically a lignite miner and power producer. It operates lignite mines, a coal mine and thermal, solar and wind power plants, and is the allottee of Talabira II & III.
Officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, appointed under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, to conduct auction or allotment and to vest and transfer all rights, title and interest in coal mines to the successful bidder or allottee, acting for and on behalf of the Central Government.
Nodal agency under the Ministry of Coal for implementing and monitoring the Star Rating of Coal Mines, under which mines are rated from Five Star to No Star across seven modules, in three categories — underground, opencast and mixed mines.
India's largest power generator and the destination of much of Talabira's dispatch, including its Darlipali, Gadarwara, Khargone and Kudgi stations. A Maharatna CPSE under the Ministry of Power.
Open coal mining to the private sector without end-use restrictions
Key: Made possible by the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act, 2020; blocks are auctioned on a revenue-share basis. Of 213 coal mines allocated under the CMSP Act and MMDR Act, 131 were auctioned for commercial mining.
Benchmark mines on responsible mining practice rather than output alone
Key: Ministry of Coal scheme run by the Coal Controller's Organisation; mines are scored across seven modules and rated Five Star down to No Star, separately for underground, opencast and mixed mines. Talabira II & III held a Five-Star Rating for five consecutive years to FY 2024-25.
Compress the many statutory clearances a coal block needs into one interface
Key: Ministry of Coal portal intended to shorten the gap between allocation and first production.
Promote safety practice across mines
Key: A recurring national exercise under which Talabira II & III has received multiple recognitions.
Coal India and other producers classify buyers into the regulated sector — principally electricity generation, where tariffs and fuel supply are administered and supply is prioritised — and the non-regulated sector, which covers cement, sponge iron, steel, aluminium, fertiliser and other industrial users that buy at auction or under linkage at different terms. The split matters because dispatch to the regulated sector is a proxy for how much of a mine's output is underwriting the power system: at Talabira II & III, about 10.72 MT of the 17.69 MT dispatched in FY 2025-26 went to power and 6.97 MT to the non-regulated sector. The 2020 removal of end-use restrictions blurred the older, sharper line, since a commercial miner may now sell to whichever sector it chooses.
Simple Analogy: Like a farm that must first meet a contracted supply to the public distribution system and may sell the rest on the open market — except that since 2020 the contract is no longer compulsory for new commercial blocks.
Raising domestic coal output is framed as reducing thermal coal imports; the Ministry of Coal ties mines like Talabira to Atmanirbhar Bharat on exactly this argument.
Sambalpur and Jharsuguda sit in the Ib Valley coalfield belt of western Odisha, one of India's largest coal-bearing regions and a cluster of pithead thermal generation.
The CSR spending reported here is a statutory obligation on qualifying companies under the Companies Act, 2013, which is why PIB releases on PSU mines routinely carry a CSR figure.
Employment, skilling of Project Affected Persons through RSETI and PMKVY centres, and land-based livelihoods are the terms on which coal expansion is defended even as India pursues renewable targets.
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Infrastructure, Energy and Mineral Resources
General Awareness > Economy and Geography
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Moderate to high — coal sector reform, the 2015 Act and commercial mining recur in economy and infrastructure questions.
An officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary appointed under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 to auction or allot coal mines and vest rights in the successful bidder or allottee on behalf of the Central Government.
The 32 substantially developed blocks, out of the 204 cancelled Schedule I mines, earmarked for specified end-use under the 2015 Act — the schedule under which Talabira II & III was allocated.
The basis on which commercial coal blocks are auctioned since 2020: the bidder offers a percentage of revenue to the government rather than a fixed price per tonne.
Coal consumers other than electricity generation — cement, sponge iron, steel, aluminium and fertiliser among them.
The Ministry of Coal's benchmarking scheme, run by the Coal Controller's Organisation, scoring mines across seven modules from Five Star to No Star in underground, opencast and mixed categories.