Coal India undergoing monetization of 4 old washeries to optimize asset utilization

New Delhi: State-owned Coal India Ltd is exploring options to monetize its four old washeries by leasing out those assets and plans to bundle lease contracts with long-term coal supply agreements. The move aims at optimizing asset utilization.

"We are exploring the monetization of four old washeries," said CIL in a report.

The company responsible for more than 80% of the domestic coal output is expanding its portfolio by establishing a non-coking coal washery at Ib Valley, Lakhanpur in Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of CIL.

The public sector enterprise commissioned the operation of Madhuband Washery having 5 million tonnes of annual capacity during 2023-24 to further enhance coking coal beneficiation capacity.

The company is also setting up three new washeries in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), another arm of CIL, with a total throughput capacity of seven million tonnes per annum. Besides, five coking coal washeries with a total capacity of 14.5 million tonnes per annum are being set up in Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), an arm of Coal India.

Currently, CIL operates 12 coal washeries with a combined operable washing capacity of 29.35 million tonnes per annum. Among these, 10 are dedicated to coking coal, while the remaining two handle non-coking coal, with operable capacities of 18.35 million tonnes per annum and 11 million tonnes per annum, respectively.

In 2023-24, the total washed coal production from the existing coking coal washers amounted to approximately 2.26 million tonnes (MT), marking a 4.8 percent growth year on year.

The company has an ambitious coal production target of one billion tonnes by 2025-26. CIL produced 773.6 MT of raw coal during 2023-24 against 703.2 MT produced in FY23.