“Blast Furnace Metallurgical Coal and Coke” conference was held
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Shri Fagan Singh Kolaste has said that out of the two critical raw materials iron ore and coking coal required for steel production through the BF-BOF route, India is self-sufficient in steel production.
Iron ore, while our country has imported about 57 million tons of coking coal in FY22 to meet the needs of the BF-BOF sectors of the steel industry to produce part of 120 million tons of steel. The Industries Minister said while addressing a conference on “Metallurgical Coal, Coke and Blast Furnace” organized by PMS Metallurgical here today. The development of mines and coking coal washing technologies in the country has not been synchronized with the needs of the steel industry. She further said: Due to the low domestic availability of coking coal, the volume of coking coal imports will continue to grow, because the country’s steel production capacity will reach 300 million tons by 2030-31.
It is imperative that all concerned organizations focus on maximizing domestic production by adopting the latest technologies. She stated that the country has about 34 billion tons of coking coal, of which about 18 billion tons have been proven so far. The development of mining and washing technology can make the country self-reliant in addition to creating huge job opportunities. and accelerating the development process of urban, semi-urban and rural areas. The minister added: Although India more than 51 million tons coking coal produces, but its use as washed coking coal by the steel industry is very limited due to low production in existing coal washing plants due to technical limitations due to high ash content and more. From this coking coal is diverted for use by power plants. Since the ash content of coking coal has a direct impact on the consumption as well as the performance of the blast furnace, we need to improve this technology.
Investment in developing indigenous coking coal mining and washing technologies to meet the growing steel requirements of the country is the need of the hour as India is one of the fastest growing economies and there is continuous investment in sectors such as infrastructure, infrastructure, machinery. , railways, housing and many others. The National Steel Policy 2017 envisages a globally competitive Indian steel industry in compliance with global best practices on environment and sustainability.
The minister added that we should remember that steel is by far the most important, versatile and adaptable material. Along with development, environmental sustainability challenges remain and therefore, solutions and initiatives towards decarbonisation and environmental management will be key drivers for initiatives that move the industry forward.
A strong partnership between industrial and academic research institutions can help in this direction. Shri Fagan Singh Kolast advised that all stakeholders have a dual responsibility to develop appropriate technologies to exploit domestic coking coal reserves and at the same time, it is important to focus on resource efficiency, reducing the burden on nature by ensuring efficient use of resources. . Sustainable economy and thereby minimizing carbon emissions. The Minister of Steel also assured that the Ministry of Steel will provide necessary assistance to the industry in this regard.
