kolkata : The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has asked Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) to obtain prospecting licence for getting easy forest and environment clearances, crucial for increasing exploration activity for identifying new mineable coal reserves.

India, at present, has an estimated proven coal reserve of 118 billion tonne, expected to last 100 years, but CMPDI has to identify mineable coal reserves ahead of the two Plan periods.