The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of
India (ASSOCHAM) has proposed that the definition of
coking coal should be changed to promote and encourage the iron and steel industry to shift their manufacturing base to new and advanced technologies.
Given the huge scarcity of
coking coal across the world, the definition under the customs notification should be changed to include thermal coal or weaker coking coals used in COREX/PCI/FINEX technologies for steelmaking.
ASSOCHAM suggested that the coals for use in iron and steel production using any technology such as blast furnace, COREX, PCI or FINEX should be described as metallurgical coal, emphasizing that the definition should be simplified based on end-use application like in the case of steam coal used in the power industry.