DHAKA: Drafting the Coal Policy, focused on opencast mining, has been completed and it now lies at the Prime Minister’s disposal before getting cabinet approval, officials said.

The proposed policy focuses on open-pit mining methodology, ministry concerned sources said.

“The coal policy has been drafted with the need for extracting coal to meet the country’s increasing demand for power,” energy secretary Mohammad Mezbahuddin Thursday told banglanews24.com.bd.

He said the draft one would be placed at the cabinet meeting in July after getting premier Sheikh Hasina’s nod.

The secretary also said both open-and closed-cast methods of mining have been proposed in the policy. But he advocated for the opencast method considering it more effective.

A committee concerned, meanwhile, rejected a proposal for generating power by extracting gas through Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) system.

Recently, a UK-based firm named Clean Coal Limited placed the proposal for generating 5,000 megawatts of power by extracting gas from Jamalpur coal-mine through UCG method.

The nine-member committee was formed on May 10 to examine the feasibility of the method, which finally rejected the proposal, a member of the committee told banglanews24.com.bd.

BDST: 1655 HRS. June 17, 2010
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