The projects involve the construction of conveyor belts that will replace trucks in transporting coal to rail sidings from four mines in India's Jharkhand state.

The projects, set to be complete in 30 months, were confirmed on May 18 after the government unveiled a Rs 500 billion plan to expand coal transportation infrastructure.

That budget included a planned expenditure of Rs 180 billion for developing the conveyor belts needed to transport coal from mines to rail sidings.

CIL aims to increase production to 1 billion tonnes/yr by March 2024 from 710 million tonnes planned for the 2020-21 fiscal year.