Lok Sabha Question No. 4056 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: Coking Coal Reserves
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Amol Ramsing Kolhe

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4056 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2019

## Coking Coal Reserves

## 4056.  SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE: DR. HEENA GAVIT: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

Will the MINISTER OF COAL be pleased to state:

- a. the details of coking coal reserves in the country, State-wise;
- b. the quantity of coking coal imported into the country during the last three years and the current year;
- c. the impact of the cost of coking coal on the steel industry;
- d. whether  the  Government  proposes  to  acquire  coking  coal  reserves  sites  in  foreign countries and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- e. the time by which they are proposed to be acquired along with the amount of funds earmarked for the said purpose; and
- f. the steps being taken by the Government to improve the supply of coking coal in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a): The state wise coking coal resources in the country as per Geological Survey of India (GSI) as on 01.04.2018 is given below;

## State wise Coking Coal resources as on 01.04.2018 (in Million Tonne)

| State          |   Proved |   Indicated |   Inferred |    Total |
|----------------|----------|-------------|------------|----------|
| West Bengal    |   775.75 |      423.68 |     139.76 |  1339.19 |
| Jharkhand      | 17881    |    11284.4  |    1660.09 | 30825.4  |
| Madhya Pradesh |   354.49 |     1560.11 |     272.83 |  2187.43 |
| Chhattisgarh   |    70.77 |       99.25 |       0    |   170.02 |
| Assam          |     0    |        0.39 |       0    |     0.39 |
| Total          | 19082    |    13367.8  |    2072.68 | 34522.5  |

(b): As per Coal Directory of 2016-17 and provisional coal statistics of 2018-19 & 2019-20 (till  April  2019)  published  by  Coal  Controller's  Organization,  the  quantity  of  coking  coal imported into the country during last three years and the current year is as follows:

| Year                    |   Qty. of Imported Coking Coal (In Million Tonne) | Value (in Million Rs.)   |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
| 41.644                  |                                          412301   | 2016-17                  |
| 47.003                  |                                          595226   | 2017-18                  |
| 51.838                  |                                          720498   | 2018-19                  |
| 2019-20 (Till April'19) |                                           56946.9 | 4.186                    |

(c): Coking coal constitutes 40-45% of the total cost of steel production through the Blast Furnace  route.  Any  increase  in  cost  of  coking  coal  adversely  affects  the  cost  of  steel production.

(d)-(e): In order to meet the demand of coking coal for steel sector, Coal India Limited (CIL) has taken initiatives to acquire coking coal assets abroad, with particular focus in Australia and Canada, with a view to import the produces to India and enhance raw material security of the country. Certain assets have been identified. The acquisition process will entail conducting detailed due diligence and closure of the commercial deal. The time required for such  process  is  asset  specific  and  therefore  it  is  not  possible  to  indicate  any  specific  time period by which such deal can be closed. No specific amount of fund has been earmarked for the said purpose but the same will be arranged once the investment proposal for any specific asset has been finalized.

(f): In order to increase the availability of coking coal, following are the steps taken by the coal companies:

- I. Re-categorisation  of  Coking  coal  grade:  Notification  of  additional  2  coking  coal grades viz. W-V & W-VI
- II. Long term FSAs with Steel companies - 10-15 years' linkage to Steel Sector
- III. Construction of 9 coking coal washeries by Coal India Limited.
- IV. Three (3) tranches of linkage auction of 11.73 MT against which 3.43 MT has been booked by coking coal consumer.

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