Coal India's coking coal output falls 9% to 4.53 million tonnes in May

State-owned CIL's coking coal production dropped by 8.7 per cent to 4.53 million tonne in May, even as the government aims to increase the output to reduce dependency on imports.

Coal India Ltd's (CIL) coking coal production was 4.96 MT in May 2024.

The government under its 'Mission Coking Coal' aims to increase domestic coking coal production to 140 million tonne (MT) by 2029-30, thereby reducing dependency on its imports for the steel sector.

Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is essential for steel production.

The company's coking coal production also dropped by 3.4 per cent to 9.36 MT in the April-May period over 9.69 MT in the year-ago period, as per the government's provisional data.

CIL subsidiaries including Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) produce coking coal. BCCL is specifically known for its focus on coking coal production.

CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal production.

The government has taken steps to enhance utilisation of indigenous coking coal, improving energy efficiency and decarbonisation of domestic steel sector. Coal companies and steel industries are focusing on increasing domestic coal washing capacity to reduce ash content of coal and make it fit for use in the steel industry.

Stamp charged coke oven batteries are also being used in steel plants to increase usage of domestic coking coal.

Coking Coal is being imported by the steel sector mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality.

In the last fiscal, the coking coal import was 57.58 MT, as per the provisional data.