On January 09 2025, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Ministry of Coal (MoC) and Ministry of Mines (MoM) inaugurated the “5G Use Case Test Lab” and launched a new corporate logo of Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDI), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited(CIL), in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- Aim: To promote digital transformation in the coal sector in India through 5G technology and also address the industry’s evolving key challenges.
Key People: Vikram Dev Dutt, Secretary of MoC; Vismita Tej, Additional Secretary of MoC, P.M. Prasad, Chairman of Coal India Limited (CIL), Manoj Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of CMPDI, Nilendu Kumar Singh, CMD of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Satish Jha, CMD of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) and other senior officials were present at the event.
Key Points:
i.MoC has designated CMPDI as the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for setting up a 5G Use Case Test lab for the coal industry to leverage 5G technology effectively.
ii.During the event, Union MoS also unveiled ‘Replica of CMPDI services’ sculpture made from scrap material from CMPDI like: delivery hose pipe, NQ drilling rod, core box, among others.
- This replica structure reflects the commitment of CMPDI to sustainable practices through intricate depictions of its services such as: geomatics, exploration, planning and design and environmental monitoring.
About 5G Use Case Lab:
i.The facility will serve as a testbed for developing, testing, and adapting 5G-based applications(app), customized to cater the specific requirements of coal mining operations.
- It is a lab-scale representation of an industry-specific 5G network, designed to support the coal mining industry.
ii.It will integrate 5G radio and core technologies with advanced Information Technology (IT)/ Operational Technology (OT) applications and equipment.
iii.It will test and develop 5G use cases like: voice, video and data communication applications, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) sensors, and real-time monitoring in coal mining operations.
iv.The key focus areas of this facility include: to develop high-resolution video and IoT applications for mission specific tasks like: smart mining, mines digital twin, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), among others.
About Ministry of Coal (MoC):
Union Minister- G. Kishan Reddy (Constituency- Secunderabad, Telangana)
Minister of State (MoS)- Satish Chandra Dubey (Rajya Sabha- Bihar)
