Govt to build 15 coal washries; to be operational by Sept 2017

Coal Ministry today informed a Parliamentary panel that it will establish 15 coal washries, which will be made operational by September next year.
At present, the country has 15 washries with a capacity of 38 million tonnes per annum.
The Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Coal Ministry met today at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) to review the status of implementation of coal washeries and measures being taken for improvement of quality of coal by Coal India and its subsidiaries, Coal Ministry said.
The meeting, which was chaired by Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal, also included Coal Secretary Anil Swarup, Chairmans and Directors of CIL and NLC Ltd as well as senior officials from the Coal Ministry, it added.

"Members were informed that CIL (Coal India Ltd) has existing 15 washeries with capacity of 38 MTPA and as part of future plan CIL plans to build 15 new washeries for augmenting the demand of washed coal for energy needs and compliance of environmental regulations," it said.
These washeries will be built in two phases on Build-own -Maintain and EPC contract on turnkey basis and would be operational by September 2017, the Ministry informed the members of the panel.

Regarding new initiatives taken for quality improvement of coal, the Members were informed that from January 1, 2016, it has been made mandatory to supply 100 per cent crushed coal of (-) 100 mm size to power sector consumers having FSA excluding pit-head power plants of NCL and ECL.

During 2015-16 a total of 63.8 million tonnes (MT) of crushing capacity has been added with installation of mobile crushers and feeder breakers.
Regarding utilisation of wastage from washeries, Goyal said efforts will be made to set up small power plants to supply power in nearby locality in consultation with the state governments.
To resolve issues regarding coal mining areas, the Minister directed CMDs of coal companies to interact with Members of Parliament from coal bearing states on last Saturday every 3 months, the Ministry said.