India’s Ministry of Coal will increase availability of coal for steel mills by an estimated 20 million mt per year by diverting thermal coal supplies to washeries and making the dry fuel suitable for steel production, an Indian steel ministry official said on Thursday, February 23.
The steel ministry official said a lot of high grade thermal coal is being supplied to thermal power plants which the latter do not require.
The Ministry of Coal will divert such volumes to washeries being set up by Coal India Limited and by private investors and this could make an additional 20 million mt of upgraded coal available to steel mills, he added.
Coal India Limited is in the process of setting up 15 new washeries currently under various stages of construction and once operationalized these would have an aggregate capacity of 112 million mt per year.
A significant portion of the incremental coal washing capacities would be utilized to upgrade thermal coal and make it suitable for charging the blast furnaces of steel mills, the official added.