Media reports indicate that high land prices prompted state-run miner Coal India (CIL) to cancel around 36 coal projects with estimated production capacity of 17.7 million tonne per annum in Maharashtra.

The cost for 36 projects rose Rs 2,690 crore because of high land prices and all the projects have turned unviable, MK Singh, Chairman of Western Coalfields is quoted in a media report.

With the existing cost of production, coal price from these projects may double, the report indicate. The elevated price of land made these projects unviable for the company. The company may revisit these projects if it gets land at a reasonable price, the report shows.

Under the existing land cost, the firm may have to pay Rs 6 lakh per acre for boro land, Rs 8 lakh per acre for non-irrigated land and Rs 10 lakh per acre for irrigated land.

Last year, the Maharashtra government notified separate prices for different kinds of lands. Earlier, CIL's average outgo on land purchase for coal projects in Maharashtra ranged between 40,000 and 1 lakh per acre.

During 2012-13, projects with a capacity of about 2.2 million tonne were to start production. But it could not carry out these projects and hence fell short of its production target. Inability to take up these projects resulted in a decline in production against the previous fiscal.