The government told the media that the country's domestic raw coking coal output may touch 140 million tonnes (mt) by 2030 from the current 51.7 mt.

Coking coal is an important raw material for iron and steel production.

With transformative steps taken by the Ministry of Coal under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Prime Minister (PM), domestic raw coking coal production is expected to reach 140 mt by 2030, the coal ministry said.

The Centre has auctioned 10 coking coal blocks to the private sector, with a peak rated capacity (PRC) of 22.5 mt during the previous two years to further raise the output of raw coking coal. Most of these blocks are likely to begin production by 2025.

The ministry has also identified four coking coal blocks, and the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) will also finalise geological reserves (GR) for four to six new coking coal blocks in the following two months. These blocks may be presented in subsequent rounds of sale for the private sector to further increase domestic raw coking coal suppliers in India.

Coal India Ltd (CIL), which accounts for over 80% of domestic coal output, has planned to raise raw coking coal production from existing mines up to 26 mt and identified nine new mines with peak rated capacity of approximately 20 mt by FY25.

Also, CIL has proposed six discontinued coking coal mines, out of the total 20 such mines, on an innovative model of revenue sharing to the private sector with an anticipated PRC of approximately 2 mt.

During 2021-22, the country produced 51.7 mt of raw coking coal, which is 15% more compared to 44.8 mt during FY21.

Domestic raw coking coal production continues to see an increasing trend in the current financial year (FY) as well, with the production of 8.3 mt, as per the figures up to last month, which is 20% more than 6.9 mt during the same period of the prior year.

The domestic raw coking coal washing capacity is approximately 23 mt per annum at present.

CIL plans to install and operationalise nine more new washeries with a 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity.

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