Coal ministry identifies 4 coking coal blocks for auction to pvt sector

The Coal Ministry has identified 4 coking coal mines to be offered in subsequent rounds of auction for the private sector to further increase domestic raw coking coal supply, an official release said

The Coal Ministry has identified four coking coal mines to be offered in subsequent rounds of auction for the private sector to further increase domestic raw coking coal supply, an official release said on Wednesday.

The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) also will finalise Geological Report (GR) for four to six new coking coal blocks in the coming months, he ministry said in a release.

"In order to further step up coking coal production, the Ministry of Coal has identified four coking coal blocks and the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) also will finalize Geological Report (GR) for 4 to 6 new coking coal blocks in the coming months," it stated.

These blocks may be offered in subsequent rounds of auction for private sector to further increase domestic raw coking coal supply.

Coking coal is a key input in steel making and the country remains dependent on imports to meet 85 per cent of its coking coal needs.

With these measures, domestic raw coking coal output may touch 140 million tonnes (MT) by 2030, the ministry said.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has planned to increase raw coking coal output up to 26 MT from existing mines and identified nine new mines with peak rate capacity (PRC) of about 22 MT by FY'25.

Also, CIL has offered eight discontinued coking coal mines, out of the total 30, on an innovative model of revenue sharing to the private sector with a PRC of two MT. CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.