Development and investment needed in Coking Coal Mining and Washing Technology for Resource Efficiency, Sustainable Steel Industry and Self-Reliance: Kulaste
The Minister
of State for Steel & Rural Development, Faggan Singh Kulaste has said that
out of the two critical raw materials Iron Ore and coking coal required
for producing steel by BF-BOF route, India is self-sufficient in Iron
Ore whereas our country imported about 57 million tonnes of coking
coal in Fy’22 for meeting needs of BF-BOF segments of steel industry for
producing part of 120 million tonnes of steel.
While addressing at conference on "Metallurgical
Coal, Coke and Blast Furnace" organized by Metalogic PMS here today, the
Minister said that the country’s development mining and washing technologies
for coking coal have not kept pace with the needs of the Steel Industry. He
further said that in view of low indigenous availability of coking coal, the
volume of imports of coking coal will continue to grow as the country's steel production
capacity is targeted to reach 300 million tonnes by 2030-31.
It is imperative that all concerned agencies focus on
maximizing domestic production by adopting latest technologies. He stated that
the country has a resource of about 34 billion tonnes of coking coal, of which
about 18 billion tonnes have already been proven, the development of technology
for mining and washing can make the country self-reliant besides ushering in
the huge employment opportunities and accelerating the process of development
of urban, semi urban and rural areas.
The Minister added that though India is producing more
than 51 million tonnes of coking coal, its use as washed coking coal by the
steel industry is very limited due to low production in existing coal washeries
on account of technical constraints due to high ash content and most of the
this coking coal is diverted for use by power plants. Since the ash content in
coking coal is having a direct impact on the consumption as well as performance
of the blast furnace, we need to upgrade the technology.
The investment in development of indigenous coking coal
mining and washing technologies for meeting the rising needs of steel for the
country is the need of the hour as India is one of the fastest growing
economies and there is continuous investments in sectors like infrastructure,
infrastructure, machinery, railways, housing and many more.
The National Steel Policy 2017 envisages a globally
competitive Indian steel industry in compliance with world best practices on
environment and sustainability. The Minister added that we need to remember
that Steel by far is the most important, multifunctional and most adaptable
material.
Along
with development, challenges of environmental sustainability also remain and
therefore, solutions and initiatives towards decarbonisation and environmental
management will be the key factors for the initiatives that will drive the
industry forward. He advocated strong partnership between
industry-research institutes and academia can help in this direction.
Faggan Singh Kulaste advised that all stakeholders have a
twin responsibility of developing appropriate technologies for exploiting
domestic reserves of coking coal and at the same time, it is important to focus
on resource efficiency, reducing the burden on nature by ensuring the effective
resource utilization for a sustainable economy and thus minimizing carbon
emission. The Minister also assured that Ministry of Steel would extend the
necessary assistance to the industry in this endeavour.