Coal news and updates

Coal India awards contracts to build two washeries: reports

State-owned Coal India Limited has awarded contracts to build two washeries to increase its coal crushing capacity and improve the quality of the coal it supplies, local media reported Monday.

CIL was unavailable for comment.

The awarding of the contracts is part of the company's plan to build 16 washeries with a combined capacity of 100.6 million mt/year via global tenders, which was first announced by the coal ministry in September 2013.

Of the 16 washeries, six are planned to be for thermal coal and have a collective capacity of 82 million mt/year, while the remainder will be for coking coal.
Three of the washeries are currently under construction, while the remainder were at "different stages of evaluation," CIL said.

Platts previously reported that the washeries would be in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

CIL already has 17 washeries with a combined capacity of 39.4 million mt/year, of which four are thermal coal and have a combined capacity of 14.5 million mt/year.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech in July that there would be a focus on stringent mechanisms for quality control and environmental protection, including the supply of crushed coal and the setting up of washeries.

This followed a directive from the Ministry of Environment and Forests last year that from January 1, 2014, thermal power plants more than 500 km (310 miles) from a coal mine would only be allowed to use washed coal.
 

Source: Platts