It is reported that Coal India Limited is all set to implement a state of the art technology with the thrust to improve productivity of underground coal mining.

Mr KS Kropha joint secretary at union ministry of coal said "We have floated global tenders and are inviting bids from global players to select the best state of art technology. The investment will be funded through internal accruals."

CIL in its invitation for tenders has invited expression of interest for assessment of current status of technology covering the entire gamut of mining and related activities and benchmark them against the best world standards under similar geo mining set ups. It also seeks to prepare a road map for implementation of the relevant technology on mine to mine basis.

During the previous fiscal, coal production from underground mines was only about 12% of the total production. Hence keeping in mind the futuristic needs, the current thinking is to put higher thrust on in underground mining.