Finance Ministry to exempt coking coal, variants from import duty

The finance ministry may exempt coking coal and its variants from import duty, now at a single rate of five per cent. Based on a recommendation of the steel ministry, it is actively considering such a proposal and may soon issue a notification.

In fact, the finance ministry may make the zero import duty applicable to a wider variety of coking coal, said sources. Earlier, in the Union Budget, the import duty on a specific variety of coking coal used by furnaces was removed. The exemption notification of the budget had covered coking coal of a certain dimension only. The new exemption would encompass a wider variety.

Coking coal is primarily used in the steel industry for melting iron ore in blast furnaces to make steel. The coal exempted earlier was for blast furnaces using complex technology, for making high quality and specialised steel. The reworked definition would encompass many more manufacturers.