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New Delhi: Minister for Coal G Kishan Reddy urged imported coal-based (ICB) thermal power plants to switch to technologies that will allow them to use domestic coal. Speaking at the launch of the 11th round of commercial coal mine auctions, the minister said that it is the government’s policy to reduce coal imports to zero wherever possible. “It is our Prime Minister’s vision to reduce coal imports to as low as possible. Those who are importing coal to generate power, I want to request them to switch their technologies so that they can use domestic coal instead of imported coal. This is a challenge that we all need to take up,” said the minister.
Referring to steel producing companies, the minister urged them as well to use domestic coal where possible so India’s overall coal imports go down.
The ministry has been holding stakeholder consultations with ICB thermal power plants to get them to blend at least 5 percent domestic coal with imported coal to start with, sources aware of the development told PSU Watch. “Many of them have also agreed to blend domestic coal along with imported coal to begin with,” said one of the two sources quoted above.
India has the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves in the world but most of it is non-coking coal with high ash content which can only be used for power generation. Since India does not have large reserves of coking coal — the type that is used in cement, steel, paper and some other industries — it cannot do without coking coal imports. However, for non-coking coal, the government is keen on bringing imports to zero by FY2025-26.
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