Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), a flagship arm of Coal India Limited, marked a milestone in the digital landscape with the setting up of “In-house Centre of Excellence for Digital Breakthrough” at its headquarters in Singrauli.
Acronymed as ICE-Breaking, the centre aims to develop digital solutions tailored to the unique needs of the company’s operations. This centre will focus on customizing digital applications for mine planning, design, production scheduling, safety, and real-time monitoring and feedback.
Shri B. Sairam, CMD of NCL, along with Shri Manish Kumar, Director (HR), Shri Rajneesh Narain, Director (Finance), Shri Sunil Prasad Singh, Director (Technical), Area General Managers, Heads of Departments, and other dignitaries, attended the inaugural programme.
Speaking on the occasion, CMD NCL, Shri B Sairam stated, “As the acronym ‘ICE-Breaking’ indicates, we aim to develop this centre as a vibrant hub where our young minds will craft smart, digital, and data-driven solutions that shape the future of our company. It is a step towards igniting innovation, empowering creativity, and nurturing the problem-solvers of tomorrow.”
NCL is home to a talented pool of managers with a knack for leveraging next-gen tools- programming, applications, AI, and data analytics. The centre will harness their passion to develop impactful real-world and digital solutions.
The company has earlier adopted digital solutions like OITDS, and Project DigiCoal, and is in the process of setting up Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC), and 5G CapNet- a captive network for audio, video, and data communication.
Another significant digital milestone by NCL is the implementation of a web-based application to streamline land acquisition process for the Jayant Expansion project, facilitating digital capturing of survey data, calculation of compensation, and grievance redressal.
Notably, NCL is a Singrauli-based Miniratna Company operating with its 10 highly mechanized mines producing 139 Million Tonnes of coal annually.
