41% of Coal India's sampled mineral downgraded

The Centre’s initiative to control grade slippage has resulted in nearly 41 per cent of Coal India’s sampled mineral being  downgraded.

During a grade examination procedure, carried out by watchdog Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO), 871 samples were analysed and 40.76 per cent were downgraded while 51.55 per cent retained their earlier grade. Around eight per cent of the sample was upgraded.

In most cases, the downgrading has been by one or two grades.

A senior company official reasoned that since coal is a naturally occurring heterogenous mineral, it is susceptible to qualitative variation.

“Coal quality from a single mine can vary over time and thus adjustments related to its gradation have to be made. The variation is more predominant in India on account of its formation and origin,” the official said.

In a filing to BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange), the company said that during 2016-17, 52 of its mines or seams were re-graded and during a reassessment, another 22 mines were again re-graded.

After repeated concerns of coal consumers over grade slippage of coal supplied by Coal India, the government decided to modify the methodology, sampling, and analysis of coal seams.