Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, successfully conducted an interactive session with its valued consumers from the steel sector at Hotel Le Meridian, New Delhi, on June 11, 2024. This event aimed to inform and discuss the latest developments in allowing ease of of doing business for addressing the challenges with the steel industry.

The linkages of coking coal to the Steel Sector consumers has been liberalised by allowing formation of consortium by the Steel plants with existing and/or upcoming new coking coal washeries and any other washery product consuming plant viz. CPP, Cement, Textile, Paper etc. with flexibility of timeline. This is aimed at promoting import substitution and “Aatm Nirbhar Bharat”.

The session also highlighted BCCL's pivotal role as the largest producer of coking coal in India, contributing over 50% of the nation's total production. With a focus on supporting the country's growth and self-reliance in the steel sector, BCCL emphasized its commitment to quality and sustainable practices.

Key Highlights of the Event were discussions on import substitution, coal quality comparisons, and the upcoming Tranche-VII Steel (Coking) Linkage Auction, allowing consortium of companies to bid in Linkage auctions, providing greater flexibility and opportunities for collaboration among companies and flexibility in Timeline for setting-up of Coking coal Washery.

The event was graced by the presence of M. Nagaraju, Additional Secretary from the Ministry of Coal, P M Prasad, Chairman of Coal India Limited (CIL), Mukesh Chowdhary, Director Marketing, CIL and Samiran Dutta, CMD of BCCL, along with Rakesh Kumar Sahay, Director (Finance), S K Singh, DT(OP),  S. Nagachari DT(P&P) and Hitesh Verma, GM (Marketing and Sales) from BCCL. Their participation underscored the importance of the session and the collaborative efforts within the coal and steel sectors.

The event also saw participation from representatives of all major steel companies across India, including key stakeholders from leading firms such as SAIL, RINL, TATA Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL, Arcellor Mittal Nippon Steel, JSW-Bhushan Power & Steel, Rashmi Mettaliks, NMDC Steel, Sunflag Steel, Jai Balaji Industries etc. The Indian Steel Association, All India Induction Furnace Association, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, Coal Consumers’ Association etc. participated along with several entrepreneurs who are willing to set-up coking coal washeries to promote import substitution in the country. This diverse representation highlighted the broad interest and engagement in CIL/ BCCL’s initiatives.

M. Nagaraju and P M Prasad also emphasized the strategic importance of BCCL in the nation’s coal sector and its critical role in achieving energy security and self-reliance.

Samiran Dutta, Chairman and Managing Director of BCCL, stated, "This interactive session underscores our commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation within the steel sector. Our efforts are aligned with the vision of ‘Self-Reliant India’, and we are dedicated to supporting our consumers with the highest quality coking coal."

The event concluded with a Q&A session, allowing participants to engage directly with Director Marketing, CIL and BCCL team and share insights on future collaborations. The session was highly successful, and participants expressed optimism about the fruitful results that are expected to emerge in the coming days.