Coal India arm invites bid for setting up washery

Company is planning to set up 20 washeries with a combined capacity of 111 MT to help realise a better price for its produce

Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, a unit of state-owned CIL, has invited expression of interest (EoI) for setting up a coal washery in Jharkhand.

It follows Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal asking Coal India Ltd (CIL) to avoid delays in the setting up of washeries and asking it to expedite work on them.

Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) said that request for EoI proposal are invited from qualified bidders "for the work of setting up of 2.0 MTPA Bhojudih coal washery at Bhojudih".

The washery is to be set up on build-operate-maintain (BOM) concept in BCCL, the company said.

According to a BCCL Chairman and Managing Director Tapas Kumar Lahiry, two other tenders for setting up of two more washeries are in the process.

CIL is planning to set up 20 washeries - coking and non-coking - with a combined capacity of 111.1 million tonne to help realise a better price for its produce.

Unhappy about the delays in setting up of coal washeries, the coal ministry had earlier asked CIL to speed up the work of commissioning of washeries. CIL had assured the ministry that around five washeries would be set up by this year.

A coal washery is a plant that enhances the quality of the fuel by cleaning it.

The government had earlier said that not a single washery of CIL could be commissioned during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2007-12), mainly due to delays in environmental clearances and non-availability of land.