Business
Confident of meeting 1.5 bn tonne coal target by 2020: Official
Kolkata, April 5
Expressing confidence that
the projected requirement of 1.5 billion tonnes of coal by 2020 can be
met domestically in the country, union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup on
Sunday said the ministry has drawn extensive "minewise plans" to step up
production for state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL).
"CIL will be
meeting the one billion tonne of coal produce target by 2020 and we have
drawn up extensive plans on the roadmap. For the rest 50 million coal
output target, it can be met with the existing mines which are being put
up for auction," Swarup said on the sidelines of an event organised
here by the Coal Consumers' Association of India (CCAI).
According
to him, the 204 blocks which are in the process of being auctioned to
the "highest bidder" in the "best transparent manner possible" have a
total peak capacity of 800-900 million tonnes.
"I think if CIL
can meet the target and the optimal output comes in from the 204 blocks,
we can domestically meet the projected demand with ease," said Swarup.
CIL has been given a target of a minimum coal output of 908 million tonnes by 2020.
The
top coal official is for discouraging coal imports and holds that the
coal demand in India can be met domestically by streamlining processes
and bringing in transparency in the system.
"We have drawn up minewise plans for CIL right from the mining stage to the distribution stage," he said.
Commenting
about the quality of coal, Swarup said CIL, which enjoys practical
monopoly on pricing of coal and its gradations, needs to come to an
"understanding" with consumers to frame quality guidelines and norms
which will be acceptable to both the state-run behemoth and consumers
equally.
"We need a washery in every coal block to facilitate the coal gradation process," he said.