CIL to start coal imports, its first, by December

State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) would start import of non-coking coal from December to meet the requirement of power generating firms.

It is the first time that the public sector undertaking (PSU) would import coal on its own. CIL aims to import four million tonnes (mt) this financial year, which is the target given to it by the Planning Commission.

“However, we are yet to finalise the countries from which we would source non-coking coal, as it would depend on the requirement specifications of our consumers,” a CIL source told Business Standard.

CIL is in the process of setting up an in-house import cell to work out the modalities for import. The four mt to be imported would be equivalent to six mt of domestic coal, as the calorific value of imported coal is 50 per cent higher.

Owing to the growing demand for coal in the domestic market, especially from power producers, the Centre had revised the coal import target from 25 mt to 35 mt in 2009-10.

In 2008-09, the country imported about 18 mt, as against a target of 20 mt. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the country’s largest power producer, which planned to add around 3,000 Mw of power in this year, is planning to import 12.5 mt of coal, as compared with 8.2 mt which it imported in 2008-09.

CIL would provide 312 mt of coal to power utilities in this financial year, compared with 292 mt which the navratna coal PSU provided in 2008-09.