Need to import 82 MT coal in fiscal: CoalMin

Pointing out that the total demand for coking and non-coking coal in 2010-11 has been estimated to be around 653.71 million tones,Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told The Indian Express that coal imports was imperative to ensure raw material security. “After a recent review meeting on the sector,we saw that the total coal demand was around 654 million tones. We found that production from all the sources including our behemoth Coal India Limited would be around 572.37 million tones,thereby leaving a gap of nearly 82 MT this fiscal. So imports will have to happen,” Jaiswal argued.

In the course of the meeting,the ministry inferred that the demand for coking coal from the steel sector would be around 50.51 MT in this fiscal,while non-coking coal demand would be around 603.20 MT mainly from the thermal power,cement and captive power plants. Against this CIL’s production is expected to be about 460.50 MT while Singareni Collieries Company Limited’s output would be about 46 MT besides other sources thereby taking the total production to around 572.37 MT. “In the 11th Plan period we have asked CIL to implement 134 new projects at an estimated cost of Rs 35,772.63 crore to produce an estimated 367.86 MT of coal from them,” Jaiswal said. Of these 134 projects,work is expected to shortly begin on 67 projects with an annual production capacity of 157.42 MT.

Promising to expedite setting up of a regulator for the coal sector,the minister said dry details have been worked out and a cabinet note has been circulated to the concerned ministries for their comments. “We intend to take it to the union cabinet soon for its approval,” he said.

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