Chairman of Coal India Limited, Pramod Agarwal held a meeting with chairman cum managing director of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Gopal Singh and others at the BCCL guest house in Koylanagar, Dhanbad on Monday. Talking to the media, Agarwal said, “With the increase in production and sale, the BCCL is expected to overcome the current phase of a downturn.” He further added, "If BCCL achieves the target of coal production of 30 million tonnes per annum, it will solve all the current issues.”

Pramod Agarwal said the meeting also discussed ways of coal production, sale, etc. through sustained efforts with the senior officials of BCCL.

When asked about the lack of required production and sale, he said, “We are here to discuss all sorts of issues and devise strategies to increase both production and sale, and for the increase in the sale we have to increase auction.”

Over the issue of search of non-power consumer and also increasing sale for steel industries, he said, “The search for non-power consumers is very crucial for an increase in the sale of coal and as soon as BCCL finds the non-power consumers, its sale will increase leading to improvement of its financial health.”

“We will also have to concentrate on the supply of washed coal to the steel industries for which a concrete strategy is being formulated,” informed Agarwal.

Coal India chairman Pramod Agarwal (2nd from left) and Bharat Coking Coal Limited CMD Gopal Prasad (first in left) and other official at Koyla Bhawan in Dhanbad on Monday. Picture by Shabbir Hussain

Over the huge pending dues lying with power companies including around Rs 3,800 crore with Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), he said, “Power companies are themselves passing through a difficult phase but talks are on with the DVC with regards to the payment of dues and everything is likely to be settled very soon.”

He denied that high prices of coal are working as a deterrent for the increase in sell and said that the increase in the basic price of coal of BCCL is not high and rather some premium has to be adjusted.

When asked by reporters whether BCCL is looking to work in the production of other minerals like aluminium, etc. Agarwal said, “As coal has a limited future of 20-30 years we need to look ahead and explore the other verticals where we can spend and long strategy has to be formalized to diversify in other areas which could be either aluminium or solar power or lot more other things.”

About the long pending projects of BCCL including the coal bed methane project, he said that efforts are on to bring these projects on the ground.