Coal India plans 15 washeries, to commission 3 next yr: Govt

To improve the quality of coal, CIL will set up 15 new washeries for both coking and non-coking categories and three are likely to be commissioned next year, the government has said.
"Coal India Ltd (CIL) has planned to set up 15 new washeries... Tenders have so far been invited for 12 washeries, including 6 non-coking coal washeries," Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The government had earlier said that the challenge was not quantity but quality of the fossil fuel.
The three washeries likely to be commissioned next year are located at Madhuband, Patherdih and Dahibari in Jharkhand.

"Washeries have been planned as per the estimated time schedule given subject to obtaining land, forest clearance and environment clearance as required," Goyal said.
Of the 15 new coal washeries, 9 are non-coking of a capacity of 94 million tonnes (MT) per year) and six are coking washeries of capacity of 18.6 MT per year, he said.
"The status of implementation is regularly reviewed at the subsidiary level, CIL level as well as at the Ministry level," the minister said.
Coal washing is a process of separation mainly based on difference in specific gravity of coal and associated impurities like shale, sand and stones to get relatively pure marketable coal without changing its physical properties.