Page 12 - Coal Industry

Coal production to touch 1 bn tonnes for first time: Union minister Joshi

Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said for the first time, the country's coal production is going to cross 1 billion tonne. India is going to stop the import of substitutable coal from next year, Joshi said at the second State Mining Ministers' Conference here. The union minister said there are going to be many difficulties in the coming days as the country will have to do gasification of coal. "Along with these things (difficulties), as far as coal is concerned, this time we are going to cross production of one billion tonnes. This is happening for the first time... I am assuring the country that we are going to stop the import of all substitutable coal from next year," Joshi said. According to him, like petroleum and natural gas, the mining ministry is also very important for the country's economy to grow and become the third largest in the world. Further, he said that the mining revenue of Odisha was Rs 5,000 crore in 2013-14 and after the auction was .

CCL mulls JV with Jharkhand for expansion of Tenughat Thermal Power Station

The total installed capacity of the thermal station is 420 MW having two units of 210 MW capacity each

Coal India plans to begin mining of critical minerals, including lithium

State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) is mulling entering into the mining of critical minerals, including lithium, an official said. CIL plans to get a block from the government for exploration and once lithium reserves are proved, the PSU would go for mining, the official said. Lithium is the 'cosmic' mineral which is needed as part of the country's energy security plans. It is being seen as a game-changer mineral to achieve the Net Zero goals in the coming years. "We will take one block from Government of India and do exploration and once lithium is proved then we can go for mining," Coal India Director (Technical) B Veera Reddy told reporters here. Reddy also holds the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Central Coalfields Ltd. Coal India's core business is mining, he said and exuded confidence that the PSU will definitely be successful in the mining of critical minerals. "We have expertise in coal mining and we can divert all our resources for mining of ..

India's path to renewable energy: Balancing growth and coal transition

As the share of renewable energy (RE) increases in the country's energy mix, it is expected that the dependency on coal will decline

Jindal Power offers Rs 4,203 crore for distressed coal-fired power plant

Adani Power had last month quoted 41 billion rupees ($493.38 million) for the 1,980-megawatt power plant in central India ensnared in insolvency proceedings

Metallurgical coal manufacturer body flags import of cheap met coke

Association of producers and suppliers of metallurgical coal on Monday expressed concerns over the "influx of met coke at prices below the domestic cost of production" and sought the government's intervention to resolve the issue. Metallurgical coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. The prevailing import rate for metallurgical coke in India is USD 395 per tonne, while the production cost for domestic met coke manufacturers is around USD 460 per tonne. This significant pricing gap has led to an influx of over 3.6 million tonnes of inexpensive met coke imports during 2022-23, posing a substantial challenge to India's merchant met coke sector, The Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers' Association (IMCOM) said. "To maintain a sustainable ecosystem in the met coke industry, we suggest that the Indian government impose quantitative restrictions on overseas met coke imports. Such restrictions across various countries could potentially curtail total impor

JSW Energy proposes to top Adani's bid for coal-power plant: Report

In a letter, JSW Energy has asked India's insolvency court to allow it to participate in an auction for the Amarkantak project

National coal index declines 17.5% to 155.09 points in November 2023

Indicating sufficient coal availability in the market, the National Coal Index (NCI) dropped 17.54 per cent to 155.09 points in November 2023. The NCI was at 188.08 points in November 2022, the coal ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. This shows a strong supply of coal in the market, with sufficient availability to meet the growing demand. NCI is a price index that combines coal prices from all sales channels, including notified prices, auction prices and import prices. Established with the base year as fiscal 2017-18, it serves as a reliable indicator of market dynamics, providing insights into price fluctuations. "Similarly, the NCI for non-coking coal stands at 143.52 points in November 2023, reflecting a decline of 25.07 per cent, compared to November 2022, while Coking Coal stands at 188.39 points in November 2023, with a growth of 5.79 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year," the statement said. The peak of NCI was observed in June 2022 when the i

Coal India extends fuel supply agreement tenure for non-regulated sector

State-owned CIL on Tuesday said it has extended the tenure of fuel supply pact to ten years from the earlier five years for the non-regulated sector. The move aims at ensuring long-term assurance of coal supply through linkage auction to the non-regulated sector. Coal India Ltd (CIL) has begun the seventh tranche of the linkage auction to the non-regulated sector within days of completion of the sixth round. "CIL has proactively increased the tenure of fuel supply agreement (FSA) to 10 years, beginning with the seventh tranche," the company said in a statement. For sponge iron sub-sector customers, the seventh round of linkage auction started in the last week of December to meet their coal demand, even though the conversion ratio of successful bids into FSAs was low by this sector in the sixth round. "CIL is committed to supplying coal to the extent of the normative requirement of all industrial sectors including sponge iron. In this endeavour, regular linkage auctions, as per the

India's coal imports up 11.7% to 21 MT in Nov, demand likely to be subdued

The country registered an 11.7 per cent rise in coal imports to 20.95 Million Tonnes (MT) in November as compared to the year-ago period. The country's coal imports in November 2022 was 18.75 MT, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce company mjunction services. However, coal import in the April-November period of the current financial year dropped to 169.08 MT from 173.47 MT in the year-ago period. There was reduction in coal imports due to ample domestic supply and a slowdown in demand after the festive season in October, mjunction MD and CEO Vinaya Varma said. The demand for imported coal, he said, is likely to remain subdued in the coming months. Of the total import in November 2023, non-coking coal import was at 14.37 MT, against 11.88 MT in the same month the previous year. Coking coal import was at 4.23 MT, against 3.90 MT imported in November 2022. During the April-November period in 2023, non-coking coal import stood at 108.90 MT, lower than 116.28 MT imported dur

Coal production from captive, commercial mines likely at 187 MT in FY25

The government on Monday said that coal production from captive and commercial blocks is likely to be 186.63 Million Tonnes (MT) in the next fiscal. The production will be further enhanced to 225.69 MT in FY26, the coal ministry said in a statement. "As per the present plans of the ministry, production targets from such mines will be touching 383.56 million tonnes by FY 2029-30," the coal ministry said in a statement. In the 2024-25 fiscal, coal production from such mines is expected to rise to 186.63 MT, the government said. In December 2023, the total coal production from captive and commercial coal mines rose 38 per cent to 14.04 MT from 10.14 MT in the year-ago period, it said. As per the latest figures, 50 captive and commercial coal mines are in operation. The total coal production from captive and commercial coal mines in the April 1-December 31, 2023 period was 98 MT, as per the statement. In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the auction process for 41 coal

The impetus should originate in states: Union minister Pralhad Joshi

In an interview with Nitin Kumar, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi says the government has taken proactive steps to develop a secure supply chain for critical minerals

Eighth round of commercial coal mines auction received great response: Govt

The eighth tranche of commercial coal mine auctions has received an overwhelming response from the industry, the government said on Friday. The last date for submission of bids for the eighth round is January 29. "The ongoing 8th round has witnessed an overwhelming response from the industry, which is evident from the fact that a lot of queries have been received from a number of bidders along with several site-visit requests," the coal ministry said in a statement. The bids received in this tranche will be opened on January 30 in the presence of the bidders. In the eighth round, 39 coal mines have been offered, the ministry said. The round was launched on November 15, 2023 by Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi. The pre-bid meeting for the round was held on December 12 and more than 50 bidders had participated in it.

Coal ministry to build integrated platform for managing coal transport

The AI-powered Smart Logistics Plan will help build data sets for future planning

Coal India's supply to non-regulated sector rises 31% during Apr-Dec

State-owned CIL on Tuesday said its supplies to the non-regulated sector rose 31 per cent to 98 Million Tonnes (MT) in the April-December period of the current fiscal. Coal India Ltd (CIL) supplied 75 MT fuel in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. "Even as CIL supplies to the country's power sector exceeded the projected commitment, the company supplied an all-time high volume of 98 million tonnes to non-regulated sector consumers till December," the maharatna firm said in a statement. With increased production and maximised supplies through all modes of despatch, the coal offtake to power plants of the country by the PSU rose to 454 MT during the April-December period. "This is 8 MT higher than the committed quantity of 446 MT for the period. Compared to 433 MT of April-December last year, the increase is 21 MT with around 5 per cent growth," the PSU said. It produced 532 MT of coal in the April-December period of FY24, logging a year-on-year growth of 11 per cent.

Strong visibility over growth, costs drive up CIL stock to record high

The e-auction premium over the fuel supply agreement (FSA) price has improved to between 80-100 per cent which means higher blended realisation compared to June-July premiums of around 60 per cent

India to build 2 billion-tonne coal stock by 2030, then hit pause button

According to the projections of the Ministry of Coal, the demand for coal will be close to 1.5-1.8 bt by 2030

Coal production rises over 12% to 664.37 MT this fiscal: Ministry

The country's coal production increased 12.29 per cent to 664.37 Million Tonnes (MT) from April to December 25 this fiscal over the year-ago period, according to an official statement. The country's coal output was 591.64 MT in the same period last year. "As per the latest statistics of the Ministry of Coal, the cumulative achievement in coal production during FY 202324, from April 2023 to December 25, 2023, has touched 664.37 MT, indicating a substantial 12.29 per cent growth compared to the corresponding period last year at 591.64 MT," according to an official statement. The coal dispatch from April to December 25 increased to 692.84 MT over 622.40 MT in the year-ago period. The increase ensures a consistent and robust coal supply to meet the energy needs of the power sector, the coal ministry said. "Furthermore, the overall coal dispatch to the power sector from April to December 25, 2023, increased by an impressive 8.39 per cent, reaching 577.11 MT compared to 532.43 MT during

Govt plans financial support for coal gasification, higher production

Rolling out a policy to provide financial support for coal gasification projects, augmenting production and promoting underground mining activities are among the government's priorities for the coal sector, which is key to meet the country's rising electricity demand. Besides, efforts will be made to bring more captive and commercial coal mines into operation, improve the quality of the dry fuel and transportation infrastructure for environmental sustainability. Digitisation of mine records is also on the cards. In an interview to PTI, Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena said the government has already notified two policies with respect to coal gasification and plans to provide financial support as well as tax incentives for such projects. The ministry of coal has set a target to gasify 100 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal by FY 2030 in line with its energy transition plans. "Now, we are coming out with a policy for certain financial support and tax incentives (for coal gasification projects

Govt to focus on coal-fired power generation in 2024 for energy security

India will focus on setting up more coal-fired power projects as well as keep adding renewable generation capacity to achieve 24x7 electricity supply for all in 2024 amid economic expansion and the need to ensure energy security in these times of rising geopolitical uncertainties. In a reflection of ambitious plans, the Union power ministry has planned a whooping 91 GW of coal-based thermal power generation capacity entailing an investment of Rs 7.28 lakh crore over the next few years. Talking to PTI, Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said, "24X7 supply of power is right of the consumer. Similarly, energy security is of paramount importance for us. You have seen what happened in Europe due to the Russia-Ukraine war." At present, average power supply across India is 23.50 hours in urban areas and 22 hours in rural areas, he said. Singh also said that the coal-based thermal power capacity will insulate the country from any geopolitical disruption and ensure ..