The government has urged the heavy equipment manufacturers to produce such machinery in the domestic market, which will help reduce the country’s imports worth over Rs 3, 500 crore annually. Currently, Coal India Ltd (CIL) alone imports high-capacity equipment such as electric rope shovel, hydraulic shovel etc worth around Rs 3, 500 crore and pays Rs 1,000 crore as custom duty, incurring heavy expense on purchasing machinery through importing, the coal ministry said in a statement. At a review meeting, the ministry held consultations with the stakeholders to suggest ways to boost domestic manufacturing of heavy earth moving machinery (HEMM) and underground mining equipment like high wall (HW) miners, continuous miners, high capacity miners, hydraulic shovels and dumpers. In line with the objectives of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, promoting “Make in India”, the ministry has convened a multi-disciplinary high-level committee, featuring representation from various governmental branches and key industry players like BEML, Caterpillar and Tata Hitachi. Tasked with encouraging domestic production of heavy earth moving machinery (HEMM) and other underground mining gear, the committee is spearheaded by Coal India Ltd (CIL) Director (technical).