CIL asks arms to ensure supply of crushed coal to power plants

Coal India Ltd has asked its subsidiaries to ensure supply of crushed coal to power plants and said any case related to non-addressal of the same should be brought to the notice of the Maharatna firm. "In case any power station receives uncrushed coal, the same may be brought to the notice of CIL for proper redressal ... of the matter," Coal India said in a notice to its arms including Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) and Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL).

Crushing reduces the overall top-size of the run-of-mine coal - the coal that comes directly from mine - so that it can be more easily handled and processed within the captive power plants.

Terming quality determination of fossil fuels a challenge, the government had earlier taken a decision to supply crushed coal from January one. Coal India further informed its subsidiaries that except pit head plants, the PSU is committed to supply "(-) 100 mm crushed coal to power plants from January 1, 2016 as per the decisions taken during the review meeting of Secretary (Coal)." 

Coal Secretary Anil Swarup had earlier said :"The challenge is not quantity but quality and that is where I have challenged the top management of Coal India...all coal will be crushed and sent from January 1, 2016. We are committed to that. It will eliminate a lot of quality issues." 

Swarup had also said that all the coal of G10 grade will be washed and transported after October 1, 2017. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production.

It is a holding company with seven wholly-owned coal producing subsidiaries and one mine planning and consultancy company. CIL is aiming to double its production to one billion tonnes by 2020. The government has set an output target of 550 million tonnes for the company in the current fiscal.