South Eastern Coalfields Limited sets a national benchmark with the erection and commissioning of a Hitachi EX3600 face shovel at Asia’s largest coal mine – another marker of Coal India’s drive toward higher productivity, safer operations and technology-led capacity expansion.

On site at Gevra. Senior officials and commissioning teams gather around the newly commissioned EX3600.

MMPI.  INDUSTRY & INFRASTRUCTURE DESK     COAL & MINING BUREAU

A NATIONAL FIRST AT ASIA’S LARGEST COAL MINE

A new benchmark in opencast mechanisation

In a milestone for India’s coal mining sector, South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a Maharatna subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has commissioned the country’s first 21 cubic metre (CuM) capacity electro-hydraulic face shovel at its Gevra Mega Project in Korba district, Chhattisgarh. The state-of-the-art Hitachi EX3600 machine was inaugurated on site by SECL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Harish Duhan.

The 21 CuM EX3600 readied for inauguration at Gevra Mega Project.

MMPI.  INDUSTRY & INFRASTRUCTURE DESK     COAL & MINING BUREAU

SAFETY, DIGITAL OVERSIGHT & PRODUCTIVITY

Built for scale – and for safer, smarter operation

Beyond its record-setting scale, the shovel is built around operator safety and digital monitoring. It carries a 360-degree camera, an Operator Fatigue Monitoring System, an air-suspension seat, adjustable joysticks, hydraulic access stairs, a gas-based fire suppression system and a FOPS-compliant safety cabin.

The machine has also been integrated with SECL’s Fleet Management System, allowing real-time tracking of performance and operational efficiency and bringing the shovel9 under the digital oversight framework the company is extending across its mechanised fleet.

Scale and teamwork. Officials and project personnel pictured across the EX3600 during the commissioning programme.

Hydraulic shovels of this class are the workhorses of modern opencast mining. Their induction typically translates into shorter production cycles, reduced dependence on ageing machinery and safer working conditions for the mining workforce. For SECL, the largest coal-producing subsidiary in the Coal India fold, this addition is a direct contribution to the national coal production target.

MMPI.  INDUSTRY & INFRASTRUCTURE DESK      COAL & MINING BUREAU

LEADERSHIP

Technology-led execution at SECL

 

Harish Duhan
CMD, SECL

Under his stewardship, SECL has moved with clarity and purpose to convert ambition into achievement, with the Gevra shovel standing as a visible proof point of leadership in action. The commissioning pairs a national-first technological upgrade with operational discipline and hands-on engagement.

INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT – COAL INDIA

From strategic direction to machinery on the ground

B. Sairam
CMD, Coal India Limited

The milestone sits within a wider institutional context defined by leadership at the top of Coal India. The MMPI feature notes that since taking over as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Coal India Limited in December 2025, B. Sairam has brought technical depth and strategic clarity to the country’s largest coal producer, with emphasis on production volumes, coal quality and diversification into solar power, critical mineral acquisition and coal gasification.

Under Sairam’s technically grounded chairmanship, the feature frames subsidiary-level capacity building – including SECL bringing the country’s first 21 CuM shovel into service – as the operational expression of a broader Coal India mandate: mechanisation, safety upgrades, sustainable mining practice and energy security.

MMPI.  INDUSTRY & INFRASTRUCTURE DESK      COAL & MINING BUREAU

ON SITE – GEVRA MEGA PROJECT

Commissioning in pictures

Ceremonial handover. The commissioning milestone brings together SECL leadership, operating teams and Tata Hitachi representatives at Gevra.

Tata Hitachi & commissioning team. The people behind the machine, pictured at the Gevra commissioning programme.

Beyond the immediate gains in output and safety, moves of this kind carry weight for the communities and regions built around SECL’s operations, reinforcing employment, local economic activity and the broader energy-security mission that Coal India serves at a national level.

The Gevra commissioning brings together machine scale, digital oversight, safety systems and institutional leadership. As India’s power and industrial demand continues to climb, steady and well-managed capacity additions – equipment inducted, commissioned and put to work at scale – remain central to keeping the country’s coal backbone dependable.

MMPI – INDUSTRY & INFRASTRUCTURE DESK
Coal & Mining Bureau