BCCL incurs Rs 95 cr loss on blending steel grade coal with inferior type
Coal India arm BCCL suffered Rs 95 crore loss due to blending inferior grade coal with superior steel quality dry-fuel, the government auditor CAG has said. Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), one of the fossil fuel producing subsidiaries of CIL, is engaged in mining, washing and distribution of coal to meet the energy requirement of its consumers and produces both coking and non-coking coal. However, BCCL blended steel grade coal with inferior washery grade coal in its four washeries, instead of supplying the steel grade coal directly to customers and earning higher revenue. This has resulted in loss of Rs 95.09 crore to the company during 2013-14 to 2015-16, worked out on a conservative basis, it said. Coking coal having less than 18 per cent ash is termed as steel grade coal, which can be used directly by consumers in the steel sector. Coal having higher ash content (18 per cent to 35 per cent) is termed washery grade coal and requires washing to make it suitable for use in production of steel. During 2013-14 to 2015-16, BCCL fed 26.33 lakh tonnes of coking coal into its four washeries by blending 13.91 lakh tonnes of steel grade coal with 12.42 lakh tonnewashery grade coal, which finally yielded only 6.64 lakh tonne of washed coal (25 per cent) along with middling, slurry and rejects, it said. The company was to supply 25 lakh tonnes of raw coking coal to Tata Steel in 2013-14, which it could not supply, it said. BCCL had also agreed to supply 12 lakh tonnes of steel grade raw coking coal to SAIL during 2014-15 to 2015-16, against which the company could supply only 1.02 lakh tonne, it said.
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