Abstract

The case traces the value chain of coal, its importance in Indian economy and it explains the extraction process used by Coal India Limited (CIL). The process steps include - identifying and clearing coal reserves for mining, mining process and end user stage. Further, it focuses on different types of pollutions caused due to the mining activity including air, water, soil, and health problems faced by miners and aboriginals. Coal India officially embraced corporate social responsibility and sustainability development as a core value of its business. Under sustainability initiatives, it initiated activities in the three areas of environment, social and economic development for which it won many awards but a lot more can be done towards sustainability. To progress further as a sustainable organization, CIL had to consider adopting technologies like beneficiation by physical processes, Fuel Gas Desulfurization technology, use of absorbents like lime to capture sulfur, flue gas treatment to capture nitrogen dioxide, and the use of Carbon Capture Use and Storage Technology (CCUST), recommended by World Coal Association. These technologies could help reduce pollution from operations. The organization faced a challenge in extracting coal in the future since over one billion tones (27%) of coal reserves fell under forest areas. Coal India was also looking at transforming itself into an integrated energy organization from being just a coal mining company.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• To understand the value chain of the coal from mining stage to end user stage.
• To understand the environmental and social issues across the value chain of Coal India.
• To comprehend the sustainable initiatives in terms of social, environmental and economic dimensions undertaken by Coal India Limited.
• To illustrate other sustainable initiatives this could lead towards sustainability.

Keywords

Sustainability, Social development initiatives, Environmental development initiatives, Economic Development initiatives, Sustainable Development, Coal India Limited, Sustainable Development Initiatives