"The washeries would come up in Coal India subsidiaries, which have already started scouting for land and water," Coal India Chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya said.
Firms wash coal in washeries to reduce its ash content and improve the calorific value. The average as content in Indian coal hovers around 35 to 38 per cent.
Washing helps reduce it by about 7-8 per cent.
The company would set up the washeries in association with private agencies on built-operate-maintain model, he added. While construction cost for the washeries would be borne by CIL, the maintenance part would be taken care of by the agencies.
Initially, Bhattacharyya said, CIL plans to wash at least 50 per cent of its coal, which are not used at pitheads, and later go for complete washing of all varieties.
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Minister of State for Coal, Santosh Bagrodia, had recently said the government would ensure cent per cent washing of coals, which are transported beyond 1,000 km stretch by the end of the current plan.
On prices of coal, though Bhattacharyya did not directly state that coal prices may go up post-washing but said, "consumers should gear up to bear some additional cost for better quality of coal in future. As for this year, we have forzen the rates," he said.