Survey - 66% Phulbari people favour the mine12 Dec 2025 10:51
I knew I had read somewhere that the Phulbari people were in favour of the mine. This is from the 2022 AGM.
'Gary Lye said that the survey was carried out in co-operation with the community and shows support from the community. Community responses emphasised the need for training and getting a job. Choice and transparency are very important to GCM. Of the people surveyed in the area of the Phulbari project, one third said they wanted money so they could leave. Another third said they want to move into town and start businesses, and another third want to carry on farming. GCM wants to give people choice.
I asked about the Annual Report’s statement that the Phulbari project would create 17,000 direct and indirect jobs. Indian coal mines of a similar size to the planned size of GCM’s project (producing around 16 million tons a year) include Dudhichua, Rajmahal and Banhardih. Dudhichua employs 3,018 workers, Rajmahal 2,963 and Banhardih, according to estimates by Coal India, 1,306. How did GCM calculate the figure of 17,000 jobs at Phulbari?
Gary Lye explained that the figure of 17,000 was calculated by independent consultants and includes jobs in coal transportation and other work created by the value added by mining to the local economy.
Sam Brown asked more about the 2019 survey. Who had been surveyed? Gary Lye said that it involved all the homes in the area to be directly affected by the project. Sam asked how many people that was. Gary Lye said that the population had dropped by about 2,000 in recent years and now stood at around 39,000. People have been moving away over time........
He noted that the local MP representing half the Phulbari project area had asked in Parliament in November why the Phulbari coal deposit was not being developed. The State Minister replied that the government had looked at various mining possibilities and that Phulbari is the only project worth pursuing as an opencast project. It could get at 90% of the coal in the deposit, compared to 30% or 40% in other possible mining areas. The nearby underground coal mine at Barapukuria had caused serious problems of land subsidence and subsequent flooding. But the Minister had also said that the government needs to balance mining with the needs of agriculture. Gary Lye said that GCM’s Agricultural Improvement Plan will double agricultural yields. The government is under huge pressure, trying to get away from the effects of the international market place, and it must turn to local resources, which is where GCM is positioned.'
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