Asheesh Kumar, Director (Business Development) at Coal India Limited (Coal India), chaired a strategic review meeting at the headquarters of Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDI) in Ranchi. The session was held to evaluate the progress of ongoing projects across emerging and strategic energy areas including critical minerals, solar energy initiatives and underground coal gasification. The review placed emphasis on the integration of cleaner and advanced technologies into the organisation's mining and energy portfolio.

Senior leadership reviewed project milestones, operational challenges and the roadmap for scaling upcoming initiatives across the portfolio. Chaudhari Shivraj Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of CMPDI, and senior executives from Coal India participated and contributed to strategic discussions on deployment timelines and resource optimisation. The meeting identified key constraints and recommended phased measures to accelerate project delivery while managing technical and environmental considerations.

Discussions covered development of projects linked to critical minerals and the expansion of solar energy programmes to support decentralised and utility scale generation. Attention was also given to advancement of underground coal gasification technology as a complementary route for resource utilisation and for reducing surface disturbance from mining operations and enhancing long term recovery. The review reiterated CMPDI's role as the technical and planning arm of Coal India and its increasing importance in supporting the company's long term energy transition strategy.

Coal India reiterated its intent to expand into new energy domains while strengthening core mining operations and aligning with national energy security and sustainability goals. The review signalled a strategic push towards diversification, with an emphasis on phased implementation and monitoring of outcomes. Senior teams were asked to refine project schedules, enhance stakeholder engagement and ensure compliance with environmental norms, and follow up actions were assigned to relevant technical and project teams. Timelines will be reviewed at regular intervals thereafter.