Pariksha SaathiCoal Ministry's Coal Controller Organisation develops SUVIKALP, a digital mine repurposing tool for closed and abandoned mines
The Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) under the Ministry of Coal has developed SUVIKALP – Mine Repurposing Tool, a digital decision-support platform aligned with the Mining Plan Guidelines for Coal and Lignite Mine, 2025, to help transform closed and abandoned mines into productive assets, the Ministry said on 3 November 2026. SUVIKALP aims to establish a scientific, transparent and standardised framework for identifying suitable post-mining land-use opportunities. It brings together geo-mining characteristics, environmental conditions, infrastructure availability, resource constraints, financial considerations and socio-economic factors on a unified digital platform; users create a site profile by entering mine-specific information, and potential repurposing options are evaluated and ranked using a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methodology based on TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution). The assessment follows a sequence of factor selection, generation of potential options, integration of community priorities, suitability assessment and final ranking. SUVIKALP integrates RECLAIM – Community Engagement and Development Framework to bring local priorities into project evaluation, and its PRISM (Post-Mining Repurposing Implementation Strategic Model) extends the platform to implementation pathways, supported by a knowledge repository of project concept notes, national and international case studies, sample tender documents, details of implementation agencies and best-practice resources. The Ministry said the next phase will focus on wider adoption across closed and abandoned coal and lignite mines, converting recommendations into site-specific feasibility studies, concept notes and DPRs, institutional convergence, investment mobilisation, knowledge and capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation; the long-term vision is to evolve SUVIKALP into a scalable national knowledge and decision-support ecosystem.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 6 August 2025, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy said that closure and repurposing of coal mines in India are now undertaken as per the Guidelines for Preparation of Mining Plan and Mine Closure Plan for Coal and Lignite Blocks-2025. These emphasise scientific and socially responsible mine closure, including land reclamation, environmental restoration and post-mining use for community and economic benefit; they provide directions for integrating activities such as agriculture, pisciculture, eco-parks, waterbody restoration, green energy projects and cultural or heritage promotion, and encourage local communities to take part in operating and maintaining public spaces. The guidelines mandate that a minimum of 25% of the five-yearly escrow amount deposited for mine closure be used for community development and livelihood activities, and earmark 10% of the final mine closure cost for Just Transformation, to be used in consultation with the district administration and stakeholders. The reply said coal and lignite PSUs have taken up repurposing initiatives such as eco-parks, mine tourism sites, recreational parks, pisciculture in mine voids and solar power projects, citing among others Saoner Eco Park in Western Coalfields Limited, Kayakalp Vatika and pisciculture at the Kerketta mine void in Central Coalfields Limited, and Parasnath Udyan in Bharat Coking Coal Limited; abroad, a few closed coal mines in Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia have been repurposed into tourist spots, cultural centres, reservoirs or for industrial purposes.
Check yourself: under the 2025 guidelines described in the reply, what share of the five-yearly escrow amount deposited for mine closure must go to community development and livelihood activities, and what share of the final mine closure cost is earmarked for Just Transformation?
A minimum of 25%; 10%.
Revision task: from this release, note who developed SUVIKALP, the guidelines it is aligned with, the factors it brings together, the method it uses to rank options, the steps of its assessment, what RECLAIM and PRISM do, and the priorities for its next phase; from the note, the name of the 2025 guidelines, what they emphasise, the shares of the escrow amount and closure cost set aside, and examples of repurposed mines in India and abroad.
Test yourself
SUVIKALP, a digital decision-support platform for repurposing closed and abandoned mines, has been developed by which organisation under the Ministry of Coal?
Show the answer
Answer: Coal Controller Organisation
The Ministry of Coal said SUVIKALP – Mine Repurposing Tool has been developed by the Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) under the Ministry, as a digital decision-support platform aligned with the Mining Plan Guidelines for Coal and Lignite Mine, 2025. It ranks potential repurposing options using a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methodology based on TOPSIS, and integrates the RECLAIM community engagement framework and the PRISM implementation model.
Read the daily collection → · Editorial standards & corrections