Vikram Dev Dutt takes charge as coal secretary at a critical juncture for energy use

New Delhi: Vikram Dev Dutt, a senior civil servant, on Monday assumed charge as secretary to the Union ministry of coal.

A 1993-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, Dutt was till recently the director general of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

He succeeds V.L. Kantha Rao, who currently serves as the secretary of the ministry of mines and held the additional charge of the ministry of coal after the previous secretary Amrit Lal Meena was appointed the chief secretary of Bihar in August.

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Dutt takes charge at a crucial time as the government is looking at increasing India’s coal production and reduce import dependence. For FY25, the Centre has set a target of 1.08 million tonnes and take the annual production to 1.5 million tonnes by FY30.

In the previous fiscal, coal production touched a new high of 997.4 million tonnes, marking an 11.67% increase from FY23.

The government is also trying to boost investor interest in commercial mine auctions. In the 10th round of auctions, the coal ministry received a total of 44 bids. The bids were opened on Monday.

A total of 67 coal blocks were auctioned in the 10th round. In August, Mint reported that the ministry to offer over 50 blocks in the 11th round of auctions.

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The production of coal from both captive and commercial blocks during the first half of FY25, from 1 April to 30 September, has increased by 32% year-on-year, from 60.52 million tonnes to 79.72 million tonnes. Similarly, coal dispatch has grown 34%, from 65.37 million tonnes to 87.86 million tonnes in the same period.

Dutt’s appointment comes at a time when along with the focus on increasing production, the ministry is also looking at alternative and greener use of the fossil fuel with an emphasis on coal gasification.

Public sector coal companies are also installing renewable energy capacity such as solar power along with looking at ways to utilize closed mines as pumped storage projects.