India to Stop Thermal coal Imports from FY24

Indian Coal Ministry has announced that the government will stop the import of thermal coal from the 2023-2024 financial year (FY).

As part of a two-day national workshop called Chintan Shivir in Gujarat, Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi said that the government wants to transition the substitutable shortfall by 2023-2024.

Joshi said: “The Shivir has engaged the participants in contemplating and deliberating to think out of the box to overcome various bottlenecks and provide innovative solutions to the Indian coal sector.”

Highlighting key points from the workshop, the minister expressed ideas to transform Coal India into an integrated energy company by allowing it to establish a pit-head thermal power plant.

Several ways to achieve Coal India’s production target of one billion tonnes (BT) by 2023-2024 were also discussed as part of the session.

Joshi also stressed on personnel safety in the coal sector and has urged coal mining firms to achieve a zero mortality rate within the next four years.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Coal will enable CIL, Captive and Commercial Miners evacuate more coal within the next ten years by coordinating with Indian Railways and Shipping Ministry.

Last month, Joshi announced plans to stop the substitutable import and noted that the government may conduct an auction of 100 fully explored blocks.

In addition, the Environment Ministry of India gave its clearance to ten coal mining projects with an annual capacity of 160Mtpa, as well as four washeries that can handle 31Mtpa.

Source: Mining Technology

Image Courtesy: The Coal Hub