To partially reduce dependency on imported coking coal, Indian state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) hopes to secure access to an additional 3.5 million mt per year of washed coal after 18-20 months, a company official said on Wednesday, March 1.
The official said that SAIL would be setting up a coal washery project at the pit-head of its captive coal block at Tasra in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand and on completion of the project in 18-20 months the steel producer would be able to secure the additional washed coal for its various blast furnaces.
The washery project would include a railway siding for evacuation and transportation of the washed coal to various SAIL steel mills across the country, the SAIL official added.
SAIL requires an estimated 16 million mt of coking coal per year and 86 percent of its requirement is met through imports.