Question : Coking Coal Reserves

(a) the details of coking coal reserves in the country including Gujarat, State-wise;
(b) whether the Government proposes to acquire coking coal reserves sites in foreign countries;
(c) if so the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(d) the time by which they are proposed to be acquired along with the amount of funds earmarked for the said purpose: and
(e) whether the Government proposes to sign Memorandum of Understanding with some countries in this regard and if so, the details thereof and the timeframe for the same?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF COAL, POWER, NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a):Total estimated quantum of coking coal resource in the country is 34,402.51 million tonnes as per “The inventory of Geological Resources of Indian Coal” (as on 01.04.2016), prepared by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

The State-wise coking coal Resources as per GSI is given in below table:-

Sl. State Coal Resources (MT)
1 West Bengal 1339.19
2 Jharkhand 30705.48
3 Madhya Pradesh 2187.43
4 Chhatisgarh 170.02
5 Assam 0.39
TOTAL 34402.51

(b) & (c) : Coal India Limited (CIL) intends to acquire coking coal assets abroad as techno-commercially viable domestic reserves of coking coal are scarce in the country. The purpose of such acquisition would be to meet the domestic coking coal demand and cater to the need of the Indian steel sector.

(d):CIL is keeping a keen eye on coking coal assets coming up for sale in the global market and identifying suitable assets for acquisition. The time required for such process is asset specific and therefore it is not possible to indicate any specific time period by which such deal can be closed. No specific amount of fund has been earmarked for the said purpose but the same will be arranged from the internal resource of CIL once the investment proposal for any specific asset has been concretized.

(e):There is no proposal contemplated by CIL at this juncture, for signing any MoU with foreign countries in this regard.

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