NEW DELHI: For higher supply of coking coal in the country and to ensure it is provided at a cheaper rate, the government is considering measures like linking the price of domestic coking coal to the imported dry fuel.
It is also planning on identification of additional coking coal blocks for production by state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) and private sector, auction of coal bed methane (CBM) overlap coking coal blocks, and allocation of coking coal linkages by CIL to private washeries to boost coking coal production in India.
“The recently formed Inter-Ministerial Committee including industry stakeholders to strategise augmentation of coking coal production in India has submitted its recommendations. Based on this, the Ministry of Coal has set up Mission Coking Coal to evolve a road map for increasing production and utilisation of domestic coking coal,” said the ministry of coal in a statement.
The government also said that for the first time ever, four blocks of coking coal were put up for auction with no end-use restriction in the first tranche of commercial coal auction, out of which three were successfully auctioned. In the second tranche of commercial coal mines auction, six blocks were put up for auction out of which one successfully auctioned.
“With the proposed measures and policy initiatives, coking coal has the potential to emerge as one of the important new business areas for CIL and other private sector players, which will contribute in multiple ways for economic development of the country,” informed the ministry. The coking coal is mainly used in the manufacturing of steel through the blast furnace route.