Jaipur, Oct 22 (PTI) Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RVUN) has got approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to start mining operations in the Parsa coal block in Surguja, Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan Energy Minister B D Kalla said in a statement that with the RVUN getting clearance from the Union ministry to start mining operations at the Parsa coal block, Surguja, the hurdle in starting mining in this new block has been removed. He said that as soon as the mining work starts, additional coal will be available for the state"s thermal power plants. After the permission was granted, Kalla held discussions with senior officials of the state government, including Additional Chief Secretary (Energy) Subodh Agarwal, to complete other formalities to start coal production in the block. Agarwal said the state will get about 2.7 rakes of coal per day when coal production starts from this block of more than 841 hectares. He said that according to a rough estimate, this block is likely to produce five million tonnes of coal per annum. PTI SDA HRS hrs