Nagaraju launches 140m coking coal mission by 2030
India is expected to produce around 1.1 billion tons of coal next year, following on the robust demand with output reaching 1 billion tons last year, a CAGR of 11% over the last two years http://coal.nic.in .
This coal production update was given by M Nagaraju, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal, a workshop on ‘Coal Matrix for Indian Metals Industry’, organized by FICCI on 28 June https://ficci.in .
The government, he said, has launched the coking coal mission with a target of producing 140 million tons by 2030 http://coalindia.in .
The government will set up a network of 8 coking coal washery to meet the steel sector’s demand, he informed the workshop https://www.coalaustralia.com/ .
“By 2029-30, we should have the capacity to produce as much as the country demands for coal and be in a position to supply the coal to other countries,” he emphasized https://www.globalcoal.com/ .
The government is working on a policy for the steel sector where washery route will be applied as the end-route for coking coal thereby reducing the import dependence of the steel sector https://worldsteel.org/ , he said.
“We are finalizing the policy to offer washed coking coal to the steel sector to blend with the imported coal,” he added.
Highlighting the importance of coal gasification, Nagaraju asserted that the government has already initiated a scheme with Rs.8,500 crores to support both private and public sector to set-up coal gasification plants in the country https://www.worldcoal.com/ .
“There is tremendous potential for the country to venture and diversify coal,” he added.
Dr Avinash Kumar Mishra, Executive Director (Coal), Railway Board http://indianrailways.gov.in , added that coal gasification will take some time to establish itself and Railways will be offering specialized wagons for its transportation.
With the increase of production of coal, the dependence on imported coal is likely to come down which will benefit the industry as well. There has been a steep surge in coal availability in the last 2 years which is mostly due to imported coal https://www.opec.org , he added.
Ashwini Kumar, Economic Adviser, Ministry of Steel, said that Indian steel industry contributes around 2.5% to GDP but has a strong backward and forward linkages.
“There is a need to develop indigenous technology in coal gasification that will give big boost to the sector. We can expect robust growth in medium-term in the global steel industry.
“Despite slowdown in the global steel industry, Indian steel industry is in a healthy state, and we expect it to grow at a rate of 10%,” he added.
Vidya Rattan Sharma, Senior Member, FICCI Committee on Steel and Mining and Vice Chairman, JSP Advisory, said that coal gasification is the only solution for increasing demand of energy as far as cement or steel industry is concerned.
Rajib Maitra, Partner, Deloitte http://deloitte.com ; Anup Kumar, ED – Collieries Division & CCSO, SAIL http://sail.co.in ; Vivek Mishra, President – Mining and Minerals, Hindalco Industries Ltd http://hindalco.com ; Pankaj Satija, Co-Chair, FICCI Mining Committee and Executive-in-Charge, Ferro Alloys & Minerals Division, Tata Steel Ltd http://tatasteel.com ; Sanjay Singh, Director – Strategy and External Relations, JSPL http://jindalsteelpower.com and Former Steel Secretary; Jawahar Lal, GM, NITI Aayog http://niti.gov.in and Prabir Neogi, Mentor, FICCI Power Committee and Advisor, GMR Energy http://gmrgroup.in; also shared their perspective on the importance of coal gasification and coal availability for Indian metals industry. Fiinews.com
