State-owned Coal India Ltd is exploring options to monetise 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 optimising asset utilisation.

"We are exploring the monetisation of four old washeries," Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a report.

The company which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output is diversifying its portfolio by setting up a non-coking coal washery at Ib Valley, Lakhanpur in Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) one of the subsidiaries 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). CCL is also an arm of CIL.

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 per cent growth year on year.

The company has an ambitious coal production target of one billion tonnes by 2025-26.