Govt in process of finalising policy to offer PCI coal to steel makers to reduce imports

PCI (pulverized coal injection) coal is a type of metallurgical coal, which is used in the steel making process as auxiliary fuel for partial replacement of coke. It helps steel plant increase efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. (Representative Image)

The government is in the process of finalising a policy to offer washed PCI coal to steel makers in order to reduce imports, a senior official said on Friday.

PCI (pulverized coal injection) coal is a type of metallurgical coal, which is used in the steel making process as auxiliary fuel for partial replacement of coke. It helps steel plant increase efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

"We are actually thinking about a policy...whereby we will be washing and offering washed PCI coal to the steel sector (only specifically to the steel sector) end use so that we will be able to reduce imports," M Nagaraju, additional secretary, coal, said at a workshop on coal matrix for the Indian metals industry organised by industry body Ficci.

He also said that there was a need to remove ash content in PCI coal.

At present, most of the steel makers in the country import PCI coal and its demand is expected to go up to anywhere between 20-30 million tonnes by 2030, Nagaraju said.

"We are finalising a policy and once done, we will be able to offer washed coking coal to the steel sector specifically so that they are able to blend with the imported coking coal and reduce imports," he said.

Nagaraju further said that the government will set up about eight coking coal washeries to meet the demand of the steel sector.

"We are going to set up about eight coking coal washeries so that by 2030 we will be having at least 60 million tonnes of washed coking coal in the country to meet the steel sector demand," he added.

According to mjunction services -- a B2B e-commerce platform -- India's coking coal imports rose to 57.22 million tonnes in FY24 compared to 54.46 MT imported in FY23. Imports of PCI coal also increased to 16.69 MT in 2023-24, against 15.69 MT a year ago.