The government extracts 1.0 million tonnes of coal annually and per day 3,500-4,000 tonnes on an average from Barapukuria coal mine.
"There is no crisis of coal at this moment as the government extracts 3,500-4,000 tonnes of coal per day from the mine," Secretary of Energy and Mineral Resources Division Abubakar Siddique told BSS on Tuesday.
He said, "We supply 1500 tonnes of coal to a coal-fired power plant daily in addition to meeting demand of the brick fields."
The government supplies around 400 tonnes of coal to the brick fields as per the demand, adding, "A group of middlemen are involved in the coal procurement process, but we are working carefully."
The ministry source said the government has extracted 6.42 million tonnes of coal from the Barapukuria coal mine since 2005.
Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) signed an agreement with Consortium of China National machinery Import and Export Corporation and Xuzhou Coal Mining Group Company Limited for Management, Production and Maintenance Services of Barapukuria Coal Mine.
Under the agreement the Chinese company extracted 3.65 million tonnes of coal from June, 2005 to August, 2011. Later the BCMCL signed another agreement with the same company, which extracted 2.77 million tonnes of coal from December 2011 to December 2014.
The source said five coal mines have been discovered in the country- Barapukuria coal mine, Jamalganj, Khalaspir, Phulbari and Dighipara.
Khalaspir has a deposit of 685 million tonnes of coal and Phulbari-572 million tonnes, Barapukuria-390 million tonnes, Jamalganj-1,053 million tonnes and Dighirpar-600 million tonnes.
