NEW DELHI, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has announced that it would soon carry out a safety audit of all its coal mines in wake of last week's deadly coal mine collapse in Jharkhand state.
The announcement was made by Piyush Goyal, minister of state for power, coal, new & renewable energy and mines.
"All 418 mines in the country will undergo a safety audit," Goyal said in India's eastern city of Kolkata on Tuesday.
"The audit will be carried out by Director General of Mines Safety on a priority basis based on the size of the mines."
According to Goyal, in the first stage 58 large mines will be covered where the annual composite overburden production is between one to five million cubic metres.
"Government is committed to the zero accident target," he said.
At least 18 people were killed last week after a coal mine collapsed in district Godda, about 351 km northeast of Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand.
Poor safety standards are often blamed for the mishaps inside coal mines in India.
