CMPDI VISION

DOCUMENT
30 YEARS
2018

OCTOBER 2022

1
 CONTEXT
Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Govt of India chaired a review meeting of CMPDI on
22.03.2022 regarding Future Business Outlook and diversification initiative of CMPDI.
Secretary, MoC desired that a comprehensive long term future vision of CMPDI may be
made by a committee of CMDs of subsidiary of Coal India.

Accordingly, CIL constituted a committee consisting of following members, by the

approval of the competent authority, to formulate a vision for CMPDI for next 30 years:
1. Sri P.S Mishra, CMD SECL
2. Sri Manoj Kumar, CMD WCL
3. Sri Manoj Kumar, CMD CMPDI

The committee has been given a mandate to prepare CMPDI's vision plan for next 30
years in respect of Business Opportunity in Coal and other sectors keeping in view
diversification opportunities such as Just Transition, Exploration and P&D consultancy in
other minerals etc.

Committee deliberated on the agenda through Video Conferencing on 07.07.2022 and

30.07.2022. After detailed discussions, the committee has prepared this report outlining
the vision and actionable strategy thereof to achieve that vision.

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2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTEXT ....................................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................3
1. PRESENT OUTLOOK .........................................................................................5
1.1. BACKGROUND OF CMPDI............................................................................................5
1.2. INDUSTRY SCENARIO ..................................................................................................5
1.3. SHIFT IN EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITIES .....................................................................6
1.4. PLATEAUING OF COAL PRODUCTION ..........................................................................7
1.5. INDIA’S PANCHAMRIT COMMITMENTS .......................................................................7
1.6. HIGHER CONSULTANCY RATES ....................................................................................8
1.7. S.W.O.T ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................8
2. FINANCIAL TRENDS .......................................................................................11
2.1. TURNOVER ............................................................................................................... 11
2.2. SEGMENT WISE % SALES OF CMPDI........................................................................... 11
2.3. CLIENT-WISE REVENUE SHARE .................................................................................. 12
2.4. MANPOWER STATUS ................................................................................................ 14
2.5. AVAILABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPERTISE .......................................................... 15
3. VISION ..........................................................................................................16
3.1. EXPANSION OF FOOTPRINT WITH COMMERCIAL COAL BLOCK OWNERS &
INTERNATIONAL MARKET ..................................................................................................... 16
3.2. EXPERTISE IN MINERAL MINING CONSULTANCY ........................................................ 16
3.3. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT IN MINING SECTOR .......................... 17
3.4. ALTERNATE USE OF COAL.......................................................................................... 18
3.5. RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKET .................................................................................. 18
3.6. LEADING R&D INSTITUTE .......................................................................................... 19
3.7. JUST TRANSITION ..................................................................................................... 19
4. STRATEGY AND WAY FORWARD ...................................................................21
4.1. CLIENT BASE EXPANSION .......................................................................................... 21
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 4.2. UPDATION OF SERVICES AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SERVICES ............................... 22
4.3. AGILE PRICING OF SERVICES...................................................................................... 24
4.4. WIDE PUBLICITY OF EXPERTISE ................................................................................. 24
4.5. UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING OF MANPOWER .......................................................... 26
4.6. DIVERSIFICATION NEEDS OF CIL AND ROLE OF CMPDIL .............................................. 26
4.7. R&D POWERHOUSE OF MINING SECTOR ................................................................... 27
5. RECENT INTITIATIVES AT CMPDI....................................................................29
6. FUTURE OUTLOOK ........................................................................................30

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1. PRESENT OUTLOOK
1.1. BACKGROUND OF CMPDI
CMPDI was conceived and proposed in 1972 by a joint study group with Polish experts
of M/s Kopex as a comprehensive planning set-up under one roof. CMPDI was
established on 1st November, 1975 as a subsidiary of CIL with four coal producing
subsidiaries viz. ECL, BCCL, CCL and WCL. CMPDIL continued to operate with headquarter
at Ranchi and seven Regional Institutes (RIs) located at Asansol, Dhanbad, Ranchi,
Nagpur, Bilaspur, Singrauli & Bhubaneswar the seven strategically located Regional
Institutes designated to render consultancy services to each of the seven coal producing
subsidiaries of CIL.

CMPDI, a Mini Ratna (Cat-I) company, is a leading consultancy organisation having total
solutions related to the mining sector under one roof and has a multi-disciplinary talent
pool of mining, environment, remote sensing and survey, civil, electrical and mechanical,
electronics, ICT, etc. It has taken years of diligent efforts in pursuit of excellence to
develop new capabilities as per industry and nation’s requirements. Being a subsidiary
of CIL, CMPDI provide its services at door steps of all other coal producing CIL’s
subsidiaries. And this will further help in accomplishing the objectives in respect of five
key commitments at the world stage made by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of our country
during the ‘National Statement’ at the COP-26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland’ where
he said that the country would strive to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. So, in
nutshell, CMPDI is a group of experts, which provide comprehensive solutions related to
coal mining consultancy under one roof.

1.2. COAL INDUSTRY SCENARIO

In India, mining was primarily being carried out by big state PSUs for commercial
exploitation of minerals. Private mining had a very limited share and was primarily DONE
for captive uses. But, the Government has made policy shifts and mining sector has been
opened up for private players for commercial mining by suitable changes in MMDR act.
This shift is aimed at assuring rapid escalation in capacity buildup of production in coal

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and other minerals. Major and minor minerals are being auctioned by state governments
on Composite License Scheme.

This change presents itself as an opportunity as well as challenge for CMPDI to obtain
more consultancy assignments in Mine Planning and allied services. Opportunity is to
leverage CMPDI’s established presence in this Mining consultancy sector as a premium
agency and the challenge is to look out for private players entering in the sector and
prepare for facing that challenge to maintain its pole position.

Other changes happening in the mining sector are evolution of compliance requirement
based on corporate governance code, e.g in environment management of mining areas
regarding Mine Closure practices and with respect to climate change related
commitments of the Government of India and for better management of scarce earth
resources such as groundwater etc.

Environment management is an evolving area where CMPDI already has a

pre-eminent position and can come up with customized solutions helping industries
complete their compliances and restore land of mines to a usable condition for
community post mining operations.

1.3. SHIFT IN EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITIES

Due to introduction of prospecting-license-cum-mining-lease (PL-cum-ML) or
Composite License scheme, a policy shift, the exploration work being given to CMPDI
under CSS scheme has reduced and will further decline in coming years. Also, balance
areas under CIL areas requiring exploration will last for around 5 years more. Therefore,
the exploration works which was the highest topline contributor (>50%) to the CMPDI
revenue has taken a considerable hit.

Now, further exploration works will have to be obtained from NMET and
competitive routes from commercial block owners. Also, exploration works for other
minerals will have to be sought from competitive routes or NMET funds.

Moreover, in order to enhance the topline and bottom line maximum utilization
of departmental resources including 2D/3D seismic survey would have to be ensured in
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place of the carrying out the same through outsourcing agencies which was done when
targets were very high. This will ensure utilization of departmental resources at an
optimum with judicial exploration targets for longer sustenance period. Also, proper
phasing out of exiting drilling rigs fleet with no new addition has to be taken up.

1.4. PLATEAUING OF COAL PRODUCTION

Coal India has an ambitious target of contributing 1 billion tonne coal production in the
overall national target of 1.2 billion tonne by 2025. This level of production will be
maintained and continue with some increase up to next 12 years after 2025. CMPDI has
already done the Mine Planning and Project Reports related works for CIL up to 2037
and in the upcoming years the volume of Planning & Design works will decrease. Mostly
operational planning related works will come, as in-house consultancy of CIL subsidiaries
done by CMPDI.

For many commercial blocks also Mine planning work has already been done in case of
CMSP blocks. The new Mine Planning & Design works from commercial mining space will
be very less in quantum. Therefore, new clients in overseas market will have to be
reached out to maintain Planning & Design vertical.

Also, diversification in mine planning of other mineral will have to be taken up

immediately to make up for the decline in revenue.

1.5. INDIA’S PANCHAMRIT COMMITMENTS

The PANCHAMRIT commitment mantra given by Hon’ble Prime Minister at
CoP 26 states that:
i. India will reach its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030
ii. India will meet 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable energy
by 2030.
iii. India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes
from now onwards till 2030.
iv. By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45
percent.
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 v. By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero

It entails that there will be a pressure on coal sector to look for alternate end uses
of coal as thrust on thermal power sector may reduce. CMPDI may look for opportunities
in this regard to develop alternate use of coal, develop expertise in renewable energy
sector and provide consultancy to coal companies to diversify their businesses to be
future ready.

1.6. HIGHER CONSULTANCY FEES

There has been a feedback from clients that the consultancy fees of CMPDI are higher
compared to other private players in the sector, for consultancy works of Non
Destructive Testing (NDT) and compliance reports such as Environment Impact
Assessment (EIA) and Mining Plan.

There is a premium on consultancy services owing to the expertise level in addition to a

load of PSU level salary wages on the services cost. But the fact that remains is that
higher price includes the unlimited after sales support including free discussions, idea
sharing, and partnership in risk mitigation through norms and expertise built over years
of experience at CMPDI, which is mostly lacking with private consultants. Also, CMPDI
helps its clients in explaining the provisions of the reports at various levels and its
officials travel for such presentations or meetings without any extra cost to the client.

However, there is much scope of optimization and create agile models of pricing as per
the client requirements and needs for staying relevant and maintain leadership position
in view of an emerging competitive market.

1.7. S.W.O.T ANALYSIS

STRENGTH:

1. CMPDIL is a multi-disciplinary organization with an accumulated experience in

exploration, mine planning, implementation and management of various development
projects, providing almost all the services in the field of consultancy and project
management services for the coal mining industry, all under one roof.
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2. CMPDIL is recognized as the most preferred consultant amongst Indian clients besides
having government 'preferences'.
3. With the strategically located Regional Institutes, it is able to provide door-step
service to all the subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd ., which are strong and loyal customers
along with the Ministry of Coal. CMPDIL has a 'Pan-India' presence in the vicinity of coal
bearing areas.
4. Assisting Ministry of Coal (Moe) and NITI Ayog in taking strategic decisions relating to
coal-sector at the national level.
5. Largest infrastructure coupled with latest technology for coal exploration, mine
planning, laboratory services and environmental studies in the country.
6. CMPDIL enjoys the distinction of possessing a large, authentic data-base relating to
coal blocks, coal deposits, coal quality, etc. giving access to the knowledge of vast
resources available in coal sector.
7. A homogenous admixture of young enthusiastic and old experience manpower.

WEAKNESS:

1. Heavy dependence upon CIL subsidiary & Ministry of Coal for earning revenue.
2. Dependence upon GSI/MECL for Regional exploration data which is prerequisite for
detailed coal exploration.
3. High operating cost and fixed cost i.e. employee compensation, etc. in comparison to
peers in the industry.
4. High rate of superannuation of skilled and experienced executive, workforce and
attrition of new recruits after being trained.
5. Non diversification i.e. only restricted to coal industry.

OPPORTUNITIES:

1. Coal is the most dominant energy source in India's energy scenario. Around 80% of
the country' s power generation is coal based. India is the 2nd largest coal producing
country in the world mining over 730 million tonnes per annum. The Coal India has been
given the responsibility to stop the import of thermal coal by 2023-2024 by producing 1
BT of thermal coal. As such there lies a great opportunity to encash the revenue from
enhanced activities of CIL.
2. Auction/ allotment of coal blocks to private companies by the Government have
created more market opportunities for CMPDIL outside CIL.
3. To diversify in exploration in other minerals.

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4. Develop as an agency acting as a service platform providing complete exploration and
mining solution.
5. Expansion of services in the field of exploitation of CBM/CMM/UCG/Shale Gas/Other
nonconventional energy resources.
6. CIL is also procuring coal properties abroad. CMPDIL, being associated with CIL in
these ventures can also look to expand its horizon in other countries by enhancement
of business promotional & PR activities both in national and international arena.
7. The Indian Cabinet has opened up the coal secto r to commercial mining by private
entities, in a game changing move t hat puts an end to CIL's monopoly. With the entry
of these private players, opportunity for CMPDIL increases.

THREATS:

1. The Indian coal sector is inching towards liberalization with 100% FOi. Being basically
state-owned mines in the past, the status is slowly getting favorable to such
governmental reforms. Further opening of the coal sector may result in market
competition from other domestic or international consultancy service providers.
2. In absence of commensurate growth in Regional Exploration, sustenance of detailed
drilling capacity seems difficult.
3. Coal is fast being replaced by renewable energy sources like solar, wind, etc. Over the
years, the development of these alternative power sources will increase and become
cheaper which may pose threat to the conventional business of CMPDI.
4. Restriction in exploration in forest area and law and order problem are affecting the
drilling operations in these areas.
5. Being a dominantly human resource driven company, present high age profile will
prove detrimental in future. Expert manpower is fast depleting, as many of its
experienced technical experts are superannuating.

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2. FINANCIAL TRENDS
For the purposes of this report the Turnover, Segment wise percentage of sales break-
up and Client-wise Revenue data were referred and analysed.

2.1. TURNOVER
Recently concluded FY 2021-22 saw a drop in Revenue by more than 200 crores. It may
be observed from Figure 1 that previous three FYs shows a growth curve with constant
increase in Total Revenue.

Annual Revenue from Operations(in Rs Crores)

2000
1381.31 1488.6
1500 1274.56 1208.43
1000
500
0
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Figure 1: Annual Revenue from Operations of CMPDI for last 4 FY.

This fall in Revenue is mostly because of lesser fund received towards exploration of
non-CIL blocks under CSS scheme received from MoC, compared to previous three
financial years.

2.2. SEGMENT WISE % SALES OF CMPDI

From Figure 2, It can be seen that, the percentage share of Exploration in sales of CMPDI
is highest among all the cost center/ segment, however, % share of exploration is
decreasing since FY2017-18 and the decrease becomes steeper in last 2 years.
Moreover, improvement in percentage share of other segment i.e. P&D, Environment
and Geomatics is observed in last 2 years. It is estimated that exploration activities’
contribution in CMPDI’s sales would come down drastically to even lesser than 25% of
the total level after 3-4 years from one-time level of about 67 % and previous year’s level
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of 43%. Thus, the non-exploration services of CMPDI, presently contributing about 57 %
of total sales of CMPDI, will go up to a level of over 75% of total sales after 3-4 years.
The segment wise percentage of sales break-up of CMPDI for last 10 years is presented
below.

Segmentwise % in sales of CMPDI

80

70

60

50
Percentage

40

30

20

10

0
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
FY
Exploration P&D Environment Geomatics

Figure 2: Segment wise % sales of CMPDI for last 10 FY.

The downfall in revenue needs to be arrested by diversification in to other sectors and
increasing client base analysis of the fields where more efforts are required, the client
wise revenue distribution may be referred to below.

2.3. CLIENT-WISE REVENUE SHARE

It can be clearly seen in the graph in Figure 3 that, CIL Subsidiaries are the biggest client
and contributors towards revenue of CMPDI and their share has remained at a constant
level. MoC also has provided a sizeable chunk of revenue in the past three years but
there has been a steep decline in the revenue earned from MoC in the previous year and
this trend will continue. Funding from MoC may even stop completely in next 3-4 years
as per current policy.

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 1200
969.21 985.99 974.4
1000 917.23

800

600
481.54
429.23
400
262.81
199.85
200
42.54 34.86 21.07 34.18
0
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
CIL MoC Outside Parties
Figure 3: Client wise revenue data of CMPDI for last 4 FY.

Revenue from Outside CIL & MoC clients has a very small share and inconsistent. This is
a thrust area where concerted efforts are required and has huge potential for filling the
gap generated due to MoC funds. Also, diversifying clients will also create sustainability
in future.

However, to achieve growth and sustainability continued patronage from CIL

Subsidiaries is necessary. The assured business from subsidiaries will serve as the
support pillar on which CMPDI can base its diversification plans to create a sustainable
future.

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2.4. MANPOWER STATUS
4000
3498 3379
3500 3286
3162 3068
2977
3000

2500 2581
2448 2394
2000 2300 2244 2179
1500

1000
917 931 892 862
500 824 798

0
1.4.2017 1.4.2018 1.4.2019 1.4.2020 1.4.2021 1.3.2022

Executive Non-Executive

Sanctioned Manpower Strength (nos.)

2020-21 2021-22

Executives 1174 863

Non-Executives 2632 2244

Total 3806 3107

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 2.5. AVAILABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPERTISE

CMPDI provides complete sustainable mining solutions under one roof with multi-
disciplinary manpower and infrastructure.

CMPDI has all QCI-NABET accredited professionals in field of Mine Planning;

Environment Monitoring and Planning in 12 environmental factors including Air,
Water, Soil, Vibration etc.; Non Destructive Testing professionals; BEE certified Energy
Auditors. There is constant training going on of manpower in relevant skills such as
Solar Power planning at NPTI, Drone Pilot training at NRSC-ISRO Hyderabad,
Taxonomy and Forest Related training at FRI Dehradun etc.

On the infrastructure side CMPDI has following notable assets:

 CMPDI has 68 Drilling Rigs including hydrostatic drills for drilling up to 1000 m.
2 Vibrosis Machines for 2D/3D Seismic survey including Paradigm software
 Various Geophysical Equipment such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR),
Geophysical Loggers, Resistivity Imaging system etc.
 2 Drones with capability of 3 sensors (optical, Thermal and LiDAR) developed
with IIT Chennai.
 Sophisticated Survey Equipment such as Electronic Total Stations, GPS
Machines, Gyroscope etc. with complete software capability
 NABL accredited Labs in the field of Coal Characterization, Environment
Monitoring, Rock Testing, Washing Characteristics, CBM testing and Mine
electronics.
 State of the Art Blasting monitoring and testing equipment including High
Speed Cameras

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3. VISION
3.1. EXPANSION OF FOOTPRINT WITH COMMERCIAL COAL
BLOCK OWNERS & INTERNATIONAL MARKET
Since the opening up of coal sector for commercial mining after suitable amendments in
MMDR Act, there has been multiple round of auctions and 50 coal blocks have been
successfully auctioned.

The widening of commercial space in coal with multiple players coming in presents an
opportunity for CMPDI to extend its reliable consultancy services to them. However, for
commercial block owners many of whom might be new in the business, would require
complete ‘end to end’ and customized solutions as per conditions of blocks. CMPDI
needs to be ready to bring in its experience to help block owners to reach their
milestones on time.

Another important area of expansion in near future can be providing consultancy to coal
sector in International market. Although coal is at an end in Europe and North America,
and other major coal producing countries have their own well established planning and
consultancy wings; coal will be a major energy source and growing sector for many
African and Central Asian Countries. CMPDI can step up its engagement with these
countries through relevant forums to market its dependable services and which will also
be low cost compared to other foreign consultants.

3.2. EXPERTISE IN MINERAL MINING CONSULTANCY

Mineral sector in India is also on a rapid growth curve. The importance of minerals in
today’s manufacturing industry, including sophisticated electronics manufacturing, is
increasing day by day and India is trying for increasing self-reliance in mineral sector.

There is a push for auctioning major and minor mineral blocks for commercial and
captive uses.

Mine Planning and Resource Exploration services need to be developed at the expertise
level of coal and a good presence can be made in the mineral sector as well. CMPDI also
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has many expert services such as Environment management, Geospatial services,
hydrogeology etc which are sector agnostic and can be provided to mineral blocks
without any further additional value addition.

Thus, mineral sector is an area where CMPDI can explore the potential to increase its
presence and create a segment of services to be rendered in future.

3.3. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT IN MINING

SECTOR
With increased emphasis on sustainable growth in view of climate change and India’s
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in COP of Climate change, environment
management will be a key area of focus to balance growth and environment.

Mining industry will keep growing to achieve the self-reliance and development of
nation, so the environment management in mining operations will be tightened and
regulatory compliance will increase. CMPDI has to be ready for this scenario and
establish a leadership position in providing environment management planning and
ambient parameter routine monitoring. There will also be requirement of new solutions
in coal and other mineral mining as well when environment monitoring framework
evolves.

Also, Mine Closure Planning and monitoring will also be a very crucial part of mining
lifecycle where CMPDI has been providing services and there is a lot of scope for further
expansion with infusion of satellite imagery or drone surveys.

The environment division will always have to be abreast with latest laws and policy
framework and keep on updating its skill-set and laboratories with relevant training and
equipment. It can be the biggest revenue earner for CMPDI in future, thus environment
division will have to be monitored and strengthened regularly.

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 3.4. ALTERNATE USE OF COAL
Coal industry has generally been perceived as a polluting industry, however, it is the end
use of coal and not mining which causes major air pollution. India has huge reserves of
coal which may last for 100 years or more. The biggest use of coal that is thermal power
may decline in future with establishment of renewable energy sources.

If alternate ways of making end use of coal on large scale can be found, then future of
mining companies may be secured. CMPDI can take a lead in devising R&D cases or
driving Pilot projects as Project Implementation Agency for alternate uses of coal such
as Coal to Liquid or Coal to Gas. These end products may be used in other industries such
as fertilizer, petro-chemicals, etc.

3.5. RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKET

Renewable Energy is the future of electrical power at homes, industries and
automobiles. It will replace both coal and oil. Among the Renewable Energy also, India
mostly has potential for Solar Power and Wind Power.

In India alone, there is a huge market for solar power infrastructure. CMPDI has
developed a Solar Cell and trained manpower in designing Solar Power Plants. It can help
Coal India achieve its 3000 MW target of Solar Power. CMPDI should explore the market
and reach out to other PSUs and clients for consultancy assignments in Solar Power.

Wind Power is another area that can be explored by CMPDI to gain expertise in design
and engineering. It can be used in suitable conditions over OB or other feasible land
sites. There is also constant evolution in Wind turbine applications making them less
space taking and workable even in low speed wind conditions.

Renewable energy can also be a potential diversification avenue of coal subsidiaries to

gainfully utilize their huge land reserve and CMPDI can provide total Project
Management Consultancy in those projects

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 3.6. LEADING R&D INSTITUTE
Coal mining in India has traditionally been a labour intensive industry due to socio-
political conditions of the country and the post nationalisation mandate of Coal India.
CIL has achieved those objectives and has uplifted many families from the poverty line
in its operating areas. Going in to the future and thinking of the decline in the production
of coal after 25 years or so, there is a case for increasing mechanization and reducing
the labour intensive operations of the mines. This opens up a plethora of opportunities
for new technology adoption and innovation in the coal as well as other mineral mining
sector as well.

CMPDI being the nodal agency of R&D and S&T activities for CIL and MoC, should take
the lead in this area and act as the lead agency for studying, driving pilots and adopting
new technology which may make mining in India more mechanized, safe, cost effective
and environmentally sustainable. CMPDI can collaborate with leading scientific
institutes and present to them the challenges of mining sector and also coordinate with
them during the development of solutions which can be technologically optimum,
scalable and cost effective for deployment in mines.

Within next 30 years, CMPDI should establish itself as the nodal agency of R&D for entire
mining sector in India with all R&D efforts running through them for a cohesive
development and diversification of mining sector fit for a sustainable future.

3.7. JUST TRANSITION

The national government has set ambitious renewable energy goals that include the
development of 50% of nations energy share from renewable energy by 2030. However,
such a transition away from coal and towards renewable energy will heavily impact its
coal sector that currently provides 45 percent of India’s total primary energy demand.
This is why coal lies at the center of discussions about a just energy transition in India.

There are several barriers to this transition. Until recently, coal was the cheapest way to
provide energy. The supply variability of renewable energy and the cost of energy
storage to manage this variability, along with limitations in the current grid
infrastructure undermining its distribution, has affected the expansion of renewable

19
energy. Furthermore, the Indian Railways’ dependence on high coal transport payments
to cross-subsidize passenger fares, has also made the move away from coal unpopular.

A particularly relevant aspect of India’s just transition is the geographic distribution of

the energy transition. The states in India with high solar radiation, and thus significant
solar power generation capacity, are in the west of the country, while the coal-rich states
are predominantly in the center and east. This geographic distribution raises important
implications for how local, state, and national-level agencies need to manage the energy
transition and its impacts on particular groups and regions.

The quantitative numbers are often delusional when it comes to their manifestation on
the quality of life of the people concerned. For instance, while several reports have
highlighted that the green jobs which will be so created by this clean energy transition
will be significantly greater than the coal jobs that might be lost, there is a significant
fault line which is measuring each job as an equally dignified one. The majority of jobs
which will be generated in renewable power projects will be construction work, which
are seasonal, extremely precarious, devoid of social security and informal.
Such factors makes the participation and carefully outlined thought process of coal
companies even more important, to protect interests of all the stakeholders in the areas
of its business influence. CMPDI can play a lead role on behalf of the entire coal sector
to understand the requirements of Just Transition strategy and prepare an equitable
strategy towards Just Transition. Even the implementation part including spreading
awareness among all stakeholders can be taken up by CMPDI. For this personnel in Legal
and Community Development cadre can be initiated straight away to acquaint
themselves with the future requirements of Just Transition and enable CMPDI to act as
interface of coal sector and policy makers.

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4. STRATEGY AND WAY FORWARD
4.1. CLIENT BASE EXPANSION
CMPDI has been at the centre of expansion of Coal India, having experience of almost 8
fold increase in production capacity from 75 MT in 1975 to more than 620 MT in 2021-
22. Coal India will soon reach 1 Billion Tonne Production and there on will maintain
production levels with peak going to 1.2 BT as per present planning. CMPDI has already
prepared plans for next 1 BT of Coal mining by CIL. While the major Planning & Design
works may not be at the same levels which were in last 5 years. Also, major exploration
works in CIL blocks will probably be over in next 5-6 years. Thus, CMPDI needs to expand
its client base to achieve a sustainable future.

There are lots of opportunities in the present industrial scenario viz., mineral sector is
expanding, there are new commercial coal block and other mineral block owners, solar
energy development as standalone projects for captive use or diversification efforts, and
international mining sector is vast and growing. Even State governments require a lot of
consultancy regarding policy frameworks, compliance development and block auctions
to develop their respective mineral sector for ushering industrial development. CMPDI
can thus focus on developing client base in following category of clients to provide its
consultancy services:
 Public and Private companies in other mineral sector
 State Governments
 Commercial Coal Mining Players
 International Mining and Allied ventures

However, venturing out from fold of CIL & MoC will require a lot of reformation on part
of work culture, improvement in efficiency of manpower and optimum infrastructure.
CMPDI has to reform and scale up its capabilities rapidly. Also, CIL though having
perspective plan ready for next 15 years, will require to operate more efficiently and in
tighter environment and other statutory compliance to maintain the tremendous 1 BT
production level and more. For this, CIL will need its in-house consultant CMPDI for
constant 24X7 support which operates at less than 1% of its operational revenue and

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CMPDI should be prepared to provide complete support towards that end. Support of
CIL only will enable CMPDI to venture out in market to expand client base.

Also there has been a trend that many clients have just got the planning stage works
such Geological Report, Mine Plans, etc., only developed by CMPDI and then no further
work post operationalization. Such clients can be reengaged by offering them mine
operation related services by CMPDI such as:
o Independent Engineer Services
o Mine Closure Implementation and Monitoring
o Environment & Social Impact Studies
o Laboratory services
o Contractual issue Resolutions
o Energy Audit and Conservation studies
o Survey or Land Mapping Services

CMPDI can emerge from just mine and mine infrastructure planning consultants to
‘C2C2C’ (concept to commissioning to closure) Mine consultants. For CIL subsidiaries
also, CMPDIL can serve as backbone for expeditious implementation of various
monitoring and other stipulations from statutory bodies at CIL mines with involvement
in Operational Planning as well.

4.2. UPDATION OF SERVICES AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW

SERVICES
The mineral and mining sector is under constant evolution with NEW high-end
machinery coming, cutting edge software including Artificial Intelligence and Big Data
Analytics being deployed. The sheer scale of mining activity including machine, money
and manpower makes a case for constant lookout to improve efficiency of operations.
There is an added dimension of ecological sustainable practices.

CMPDI has “evolution” as one its core value and objective. Over many years as and when
new solutions for compliance, business models or capacity increment were required
CMPDI completed the task of coming up with the required solution. CMPDI needs to
continue in this path and keep itself aware with latest technological and compliance

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requirement of the mining operations and cater to them by creating viable and optimum
solutions technically and economically sound.

2D/3D exploration methods, Solar Power planning, MDO mode model tender
documents, Drone Survey etc. are some of the recent examples which show how CMPDI
can take up any new task and introduce it successfully in the mining sector. This trend
will have to continue and CMPDI has to come up with new solutions and services as
when required which are scalable and deployable in the mining sector of India.

Some of the services that have been identified which are relatively new and where
expansion is required are:

 Exploration in conjunction with Seismic and Geophysical methods to reduce

borehole drilling for proving resources
 Mine Planning in non-coal mineral sector
 Hydrogeological Modelling and Reports
 Project Management Consultancy services for end to end solutions
 Renewable Energy Solutions in line with PANCHAMRIT declaration by Hon'ble PM
at COP 26.
 Consultancy for Just Transition in coal mining areas beyond coal mining operations
 Data Analytics in Mining Sector
 Wider Applications of Drones and Satellite Imagery
 Development of Clean Coal Technologies
 Fly Ash Disposal as per latest environment norms
 Sand Replenishment Study
 Business responsibility and sustainability report (BRSR) and other compliance
reporting
 Mine Closure Consultancy including monitoring and development of community
assets as per ToR.

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 4.3. AGILE PRICING OF SERVICES
Services of CMPDI are charged on an Engineering Day (ED) basis with ED rates revised
annually. The ED rate involves all the costs associated with a project including travel and
stay for field works or meeting with client during the course of assignment of the
associated team.

There has been a concerning feedback from many clients that the schedule of charges
of the services of CMPDI are quite high compared to private consultants in India. For
Coal India subsidiaries the charges involve unlimited after sales support of any
consultancy assignment at door step. This may not be the case for the other clients
outside CIL.

Thus, an agile pricing mechanism for outside CIL clients may be adopted where as per
requirement of client regarding scope of after sales support and detail in the report, the
schedule of charges may be made competitive. Some clients may require reports for
compliance only, where as some for techno-commercial feasibility aspects only, so
pricing of services can be made as per those specific requirements only and other
aspects in built in ED mode of costing may be shed to corner more market share and
increase client base.

ED based billing is also dependent on manpower which is reducing year by year and a
lean organization with higher efficiency will be a must for financial sustainability of the
company. So, instead of ED booking for billing, other modes such as Milestone based
billing in Lump Sum or Percentage of Total Project Cost may be explored to reduce
dependency on manpower.

4.4. WIDE PUBLICITY OF EXPERTISE

In order to expand client base awareness about expertise of CMPDI, it needs to be widely
publicized. There are lots of services in CMPDI which can be provided in other sector viz.
Civil infrastructure, Railways, Urban Planning. But, CMPDI being traditionally a mining
sector company, there is no awareness about its capabilities with agencies dealing with
such works.

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In mineral mining sector although CMPDI is known but there is no significant level of
engagement. Similarly, CMPDI do have exposure of working in international territories
and driving many collaborative projects with international agencies but there is still no
presence of CMPDI’s consultancy services in International mining space.

These lack of presence in key markets where diversification of CMPDI is aimed will have
to be seriously considered and apt measures to create awareness amongst stakeholders
for making inroads in these markets will have to be taken.

There can be various modes to showcase the expertise of CMPDI. Primary ways can be:

 Participating in relevant Expo/Events/Exhibitions with stalls and sending relevant

executives to engage with participants and create a network with stakeholders
and presenting the technical papers on some great works done by the company
to showcase the potential of CMPDI. The people and companies contacted at such
expos have to be regularly followed up for image building and scoping out
business opportunities.

 Identifying decision makers at government institutions, PSUs and private

companies and get one on one meeting opportunities with them to showcase
CMPDI’s capabilities and carry out their need analysis.

 There are many trade bodies, business chambers, professional group institutions
etc. which can be gateways to create a beneficial network, induce recognition and
find business opportunities. CMPDI can become a member of such bodies which
are active in relevant sectors such as mining, energy, geomatics etc. to reap
benefits.
 For international markets, high commissioners/ambassadors of the identified
countries can be contacted via email to seek their time where mutually beneficial
collaboration avenues can be explore. CMPDI can leverage its PSU status being
backed by the Govt. of India and position itself as a dependable consultancy
organization for their mining and energy sector.

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  Strategically placed advertisements in high quality publications.

4.5. UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING OF MANPOWER

As a consultancy organization CMPDI is asset light. Its main resource is its manpower
and their expert skills. On the other hand, its major cost is also salary and extended
benefits of its manpower. So CMPDI has to stay a manpower wise lean and high skilled
organization to sustain itself.

Keeping the skill level high and relevant as per industrial trends and requirement is a
dynamic process. There always has to be a lookout on the new and emerging trends and
get manpower trained in it at the right time. This is upskilling. There are various
technologies where CMPDI can train its manpower to be future ready such as data
analytics, metal mine planning, mineral exploration, higher environmental qualifications
and certifications etc. This will also enable to analyze the new compliance related,
financial or technological needs of the industry and create optimum solutions for them.

Another important aspect will be to reskill manpower that gets idle if one of the business
verticals get down. Exploration of coal will likely reduce in the coming future. So, after
making full use of the departmental resources as per the existing work load in place of
placing thrust on outsourcing, the remaining manpower deployed in exploration
segment can also be reskilled in other emerging verticals such as survey, environment
where business prospects are higher. This is required for efficient utilization of its
manpower.

Thus, the combination of upskilling and reskilling manpower has to be constant and
dynamic endeavor to keep an industry oriented and relevant skill set to maintain
leadership position as the premiere consultant in mining sector.

4.6. DIVERSIFICATION NEEDS OF CIL AND ROLE OF CMPDIL

CIL is one of the major players in the energy sector of India. Coal will continue to be the
dominant source of energy in the foreseeable future, but emergence of mass scale
deployment of renewable energy poses a threat to use of coal for electricity production.
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If a battery solution that is cheap, environmentally sound and scalable emerges there
will be rapid downfall in the fortunes of Coal industry. Thus, CIL being such a big company
has rightly embarked upon diversification avenues to de-risk its future.

CIL plans for a forward vertical integration to own and operate Aluminium smelting as
Aluminium is the metal of future and will always have a high demand and the biggest
cost input of bauxite processing to create aluminium is electricity. So CIL can use its coal
at its own captive power plants and produce aluminium as a downstream product to
cover its coal mining expenses.

Another strategy is to own solar cell manufacturing unit to produce the solar cells that
will be deployed in the mass scale solar power plants that may run the future. Other
diversification strategies include alternate use of coal, international ventures etc.

For such diversification apart from its traditional business CIL will require reliable and
constant steering and consultancy. CMPDI can be that compass which can point out the
right direction. For this CMPDI will have to dedicate a small team getting trained in the
essentials of the businesses aimed in diversification, so that CIL can then take up such
ventures and then further training and trickle down of expertise in other manpower of
Coal Indians can happen through CMPDI.

Other such areas where CMPDI already has developed some expertise such as OB to
SAND, Solar Power planning, Eco Park Development etc. can be provided to all
subsidiaries for diversification and utilizing their idle land pockets.

4.7. R&D POWERHOUSE OF MINING SECTOR

Mining is one the oldest business, and has grown tremendously in last 2-3 decades. With
the intervention of technologies, heavy machineries and IT sector, the overall
productivity and safety in mines have been manifold globally. Due to increasing
population, industrialization and demand for goods, the mining industry is facing huge
pressure of supply of raw material and energy. Therefore, to keep up the pace with
increasing demand with limited natural resources, it is highly essential to keep on
improving the processes to achieve the highest efficiency and utilization of resources.
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There is a huge scope of research and development in the mining industry in India.
Globally many technologies have developed resulting in better output. Whereas, mining
efficiencies and technologies varies with local geological conditions and therefore it is
imperative to keep on developing the technology suitable in Indian mining conditions
and to keep a pace with state-of-the-art technology.
CMPDI being the brain of Coal India Limited and also an appointed nodal agency of S&T
related jobs of coal and lignite sector by Ministry of Coal, GoI, will develop to work as a
R&D powerhouse of whole mining sector in India. In view of the same, CMPDI may take
the following steps:
 CMPDI will enter into MoU with leading academic and research institutes to form
a brain bank of the mining and metallurgical sector of nation.
 CMPDI being the arm of the biggest mining company Coal India Limited, have an
access to almost 300 coal mines, and with further intervention into mineral (other
than coal) related jobs along with the views of having expertise manpower and
brain bank will identify the thrust areas of the industry which requires
improvement through R&D.
 The identified thrust areas will be advertised and the interested research
institutes and the concerned department in CMPDI will brainstorm to formulate
the objectives and prepare the R&D proposal.
 CMPDI will work as a bridge between the industry and academia to create a need
based research environment which will produce actual result and overall
improvement in the mining sector of India.
 CMPDI will make efforts to enter into MoU with the big private mining companies
in Coal and Mineral sector to provide sponsored R&D based solutions of real
problems being faced by industry.
 CMPDI will also create a platform for arranging funding of R&D projects on the
identified thrust areas from concerned ministry at central and state level, Ministry
of Science and technology, funding from private agencies and companies in India
and abroad.
 CMPDI will work as a complete solution provider from identification of thrust
areas to taking up research work for implementation of the recommendation of
the R&D project.

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5. RECENT INTITIATIVES AT CMPDI
During the meetings of the committee, discussions with officials from CMPDI were
held and it was found that CMPDI had already taken some steps in the direction of the
strategy points enlisted in this report. These steps are still in nascent stage and needs to
be expanded in their scope for gain of the company. Some of these initiatives are listed
below:

 CMPDI has proactively approached state governments in last 8 months and

secured Work Orders from 3 state governments till now
 CMPDI offering services to CIL subsidiaries in PMC mode with support during
entire lifecycle of projects like Solar Power, Civil Construction, Smart cities etc.
 Vulcan Software for Metal Mine Planning has been procured and planners are
being trained
 New Work of 'Sand Replenishment Study' developed by CMPDI and services being
provided to stakeholders in Sand mining ecosystem
 During last 8 months CMPDI has participated in 4 national and international level
conclaves for publicity and engaging with new clients
 CMPDI is in process of engaging a reputed consultant to create a Strategic
Transformation Roadmap with a view of future business needs
 SAS Platform based Big Data Analytics Software has been procured and dedicated
team is working on it to produce beneficial solutions for Coal industry
 Manpower from Geology being reskilled in Geomatics and Hydrogeology services
that are growing and have higher chances of expansion in future
 Thrust is being given to carry out 2D/3D seismic survey departmentally to the
maximum extent possible so that faster exploration with reduced drilling can be
carried out for proving coal resources.
 Knowledge Management System has been developed and Knowledge Sharing
Sessions are being done for deliberating on best practices and new trends in
industry.
 Competency and Skill Mapping exercise are being done to identify future training
needs and developing relevant skill sets among employees
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Initiatives for many other areas will also have to be taken proactively to truly emerge as
a vibrant, evolving and future ready organization. Specially, training and exploring
opportunities related to CIL’s diversification plans in guidance of CIL will have to be taken
up.

6. FUTURE OUTLOOK
In conclusion the committee is of the view that CMPDI has the potential for achieving its
vision for emerging as a global player in the evolving earth resources sector. There are
other dimensions which have come on to the scene and needs to be looked and analysed
thoroughly. CMPDI should traverse the future path for its Vision of next 30 years with
following in mind:

 CMPDI has played the role of key agency in the growth of coal sector in India with
inputs for policy formulation as well as industrial implementation for various
initiatives of Coal mining industry
 The role of CMPDI needs to scale up from Coal Sector to other minerals
 The expertise gained over time in multifaceted solutions and aspect of
dependability being a Government undertaking must be leveraged in overseas
market as well
 CMPDI should aim to develop as a sector agnostic and dependable solution
provider to mining and energy sector that sustains itself even beyond coal and the
efforts should start now.

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