Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is focusing on increasing its reliance on domestic coking coal sources to reduce dependence on imports. The company currently procures only 16% of its coking coal requirements domestically but aims to raise this share in the coming years, a senior company official told ET.
In financial year 2023-24, SAIL consumed 19.37 million tonnes (mt) of coking coal, of which just 2.45 mt came from Indian sources, according to its annual report. To address this, SAIL plans to operationalise its Tasra coking coal mine in Jharkhand, which has a peak capacity of 4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), by the second half of 2026.
India imported 58 mt of coking coal worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in FY24, with nearly half sourced from Australia, followed by the US, Singapore, and Russia. By increasing domestic production, SAIL aims to secure a stable supply of raw materials as it expands its crude steel production capacity from 19.10 MTPA in FY24 to 35.65 MTPA by 2031.
