Indian domestic steel companies have sought from their government a “definitive timebound roadmap” for assured supplies of 161 million mt per year of coking coal if the national target of 300 million mt of steelmaking capacity is to be achieved by 2030, sources said, citing the presentation made by the Indian Steel Association (ISA) before the ministry of steel.
The presentation was made before the Advisory Group for Integrated Steel Plants set up recently by the ministry of steel to monitor issues and challenges being faced by domestic steel producers.
According to industry estimates, currently India produces 44 million mt of coking coal and imports account for another 50-55 million mt per year.
According to the ISA, steel capacity creation is directly linked to assured availability of coking coal and reduced import dependency, and at the same time diversified global sourcing for this critical raw material.
The government and domestic steel companies have agreed to work on a medium-term plan to diversify coking coal sourcing from Mongolia, Russia, Canada and the US, the sources said.