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Coal India Ltd today said it would place orders worth Rs 2,000 crore for at least seven coal washeries by the current fiscal.
"The contract for seven coal washeries would be placed by this fiscal with washing capacity of 15-16 million tonnes (MT) of coal," CIL General Manager (project monitoring) T K Sinha said on the sidelines of the CII-organised India-South Africa cooperation seminar.
"Agreement for two washeries had already been signed and two more would be signed shortly. The rest would be done during the year," he said.
Asked about a low demand for washed coal from consumers, Sinha said there was demand for washed coal from non-power consumers.
CIL officials said the company has 17 washeries with an installed capacity of 34 million tonnes.
Sinha said Coal India would pump Rs 2,000 crore in these seven washeries, while the decision for the rest would be taken later.
The investment is over and above the Rs 5,000 crore capex the CIL proposes to infuse during the current fiscal for purchasing equipment, land, railway siding, etc, excluding acquisition.
