Explore Business Standard
Coal Pricing
The coal sector is likely to witness a spate of activities in the upcoming year from launching maiden coal exchange to facilitating trading and rate determination of dry-fuel to meet the booming demand of the economy. The government also intends to work more closely in the area of coal gasification as it is on a high priority list for energy transition. Coal gasification is a cleaner option compared to burning of coal as it facilitates utilisation of the chemical properties of dry fuel. Talking to PTI, Coal Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar said that "the demand (for coal) is extremely important. And we do see demand growing in India considering the growing size of the economy... Therefore, coal will also definitely be required and we are conscious of that and are working towards that". The efforts will be to continuously augment coal output and align it with the demand, she said. Brar said the pre-2014 policy on mine allocation has been disbanded and now the government gives blo
The production of coking coal by Coal India Ltd (CIL) rose by 17.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 54.6 million tonnes (MT) in 2022-23. The state-owned miner had produced 46.6 MT coking coal during the preceding 2021-22 fiscal, it said in a statement. "The quantum leap was a whopping 8 MT. This assumes significance at a time when the Ministry of Coal has asked CIL to elevate the output of this category of coal to 105 MT by 2030 in a bid to reduce its imports and forex outgo," it said Subsidiary companies Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and Central Coal Fields (CCL) together accounted for almost the entire output of 54.3 MT in 2022-23. While BCCL produced nearly 33.7 MT during FY23, CCL contributed 20.6 MT. Coking coal is an important feedstock in steel making. In India, its mineable reserves are scarce and also its quality inadequacy for direct use in steel making necessitates washing. During FY23 coking coal imports were to the tune of 56 MT, down by 1.1 MT compared to 57.1 MT in