Coal news and updates

Washery projects not on the back-burner: CIL

November 14: Coal India Limited (CIL) Director (Technical) N Kumar said the company’s washery projects are not on the back-burner

“These are not on the back-burner. But our current strategy is to inform the consumers that till the time our own washeries come up, they can get coal washed at private washeries to comply with environmental norms,” Kumar told ICMW when asked if washery projects are right now in the back seat as the focus is on increasing coal production.

He said CIL feels that only two subsidiaries – MCL and SECL – will have some kind of problems due to new environmental norms.

But there is already a system of getting coal washed at private washeries in SECL though there is some problem at MCL. But it has been found that, in both the areas, there are ample number of private washeries,” he said.

“Basically, if the power plants want to comply with the norms, they can get their coal washed at private washeries,” Kumar said.

“So far as our washeries are concerned, they are getting constructed, but it is also true that these will not be in place by January 1, 2015. So till then, we are requesting power companies to take the coal the way they are taking and once our washeries are ready, we will arrange for supplying washed coal,” he said.

Commenting on the status of CIL’s own washeries (19, with a total capacity of 111 million tons of coal), Kumar said, “We have already placed order for three washeries. Two at BCCL and one at MCL. The fourth one at MCL is also in the last stage of awarding. It is stuck at the last level, but hopefully it will be solved soon.
I believe that of the three washeries, the orders for which has already been placed, two will come up soon.”

He could not readily provide the exact capacity of the three awarded washeries, but it said that they would either be of 15 mtpa or 10 mtpa because there are only two modules for setting up washeries – 2.5 mtpa and 5.0 mtpa.