Coal India Ltd (CIL) has appointed Accenture Solutions Private Ltd as a consultant for performance enhancement through digital transformation in three mines of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd and four mines of Northern Coalfields Ltd. The mines in South Eastern Coalfields include Kusmunda OCP, Gevra OCP & Dipka OCP, and Nigahi OCP, Jayant OCP, Dudichua OCP & Khadia OCP in Northern Coalfields.

A first of a kind venture for Indian mining, the consultant will lead and support the implementation of digitalisation and process excellence while assuring 100 Mt of increased coal output from the listed mines by end of FY 2023 (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024), over the combined production of seven mines at the closure of FY 2022 (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023), which is taken as baseline figure to measure output enhancement.

The aim is to fit together and use the available data analytic techniques to raise mine productivity and efficiency from planning, project monitoring, operations till despatch, through effective system management and dynamic monitoring. Among many measures, the mining equipment fleets deployed in these mines would be fitted with digital sensors to monitor the efficiency of their performance at every level. The moves will help in addressing the road blocks and take corrective measures. The objective is to extract higher volumes of coal at lower costs.

Accenture’s fees will be paid only on achievement of more than a minimum threshold level of the assured quantity. On crossing the threshold level, the consultant would be paid an agreed sum for every additional tonne of coal produced. “Learning from the outcome and success of this model we may replicate it in our other large mines,” CIL said.