Bhavnagar Lignite Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Sub-articles:

Global coal mines Coal mines in China Coal mines in India Coal mines in the United States Coal mines in Australia Coal mines in Russia Coal mines in Indonesia

Related-articles:

Largest coal mines in the world Coal mine impacts from Covid-19 Environmental issues of coal Coal mining Coal reserves Coal terminals

Bhavnagar Lignite Mine (also known as Surkha North Lignite Mine) is an opencast coal mine in Bhavnagar, Gujarat State, India. The mine, which produces up to 3 million tonnes per annum, is operated by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited (GMDC), a subsidiary of the Government of Gujarat.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine in Bhavnagar, the state of Gujarat, India.

Loading map...

{"type":"SATELLITE","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":12,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":21.672083669999999,"lon":72.236524709999998,"icon":""}]}

Background

The Surkha Lignite mine started lignite mining in 2008 with the aim of meeting the growing lignite demand of industries of South Gujarat and Saurashtra.

A rarity for mines in India, there is no forest land in the mining lease area occupied by the mine.

Expansion

Due to the downsizing of lignite production from Panandhro Lignite Mine, the desire to supply a 500 MW lignite-based power plant in Bhavnagar district in close vicinity of Surkha (N) mine, and the existence of a number of large cement industries in Saurashtra which have started using GMDC lignite, GMDC proposed an increase in the mine's production capacity from 3 to 5 MTPA over its existing mine lease area of 3672 hectares.

At an annual capacity of 5 million tonnes, the Surkha (N) lignite deposit has a life of 16 years.

While the Terms of Reference for enhancing the lignite production capacity were granted in August 2019, as of August 2022, the EC is still pending approval.

Mine Details

• Operator: Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited
• Owner: Government of Gujarat
• Location: Bhavnagar, Gujarat State, India
• Coordinates: 21.67208367, 72.23652471 (exact)
• Mine Status: Operating
• Production: 3.17 MTPA (2019)
• Total Reserves: 114.72 million tonnes (2019)
• Coal Type: Lignite
• Mine Type: Surface
• Mine Size: 36.72 km2
• Start Year: 2008
• Source of Financing:

Expansion Details

• Status: Proposed
• Capacity: 2 MTPA
• Mineable Reserves: 114.72 Million tonnes
• Start Year:
• Source of Financing:
• Permits: