Import of Coking Coal
The year-wise import of coking coal in India during the years i.e. 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 was 43.72 MT, 44.56 MT and 41.64 MT respectively.
Increase in cost of coking coal will increase the cost of production of steel.
The entire demand of coking coal is not met indigenously as the supply of high quality coal or coking coal (low-ash-coal) in India is limited and thus no option is left but to resort to import of coking coal.
As per the current import policy, coal is kept under Open General License (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty. Further, CIL has a plan to augment supply of Coking Coal through washed coking coal.
Presently, 12 coking coal washeries having a total capacity of 23.5 MT are in operation in CIL. CIL has a plan to construct another 18 washeries for Coking coal with a capacity of 48.18 Mt by the year 2020.