BCCL said this marks a historic milestone in India’s coal sector and the first-ever monetization of a coal washery in the country.
According to the company, this initiative was undertaken under the ministry of coal’s guidance and is a significant step towards the modernization and efficient utilization of coal sector assets via private sector participation.
The company said this initiative will strengthen coal beneficiation, improve the availability of quality washed coking coal and support the objectives of Mission Coking Coal by reducing import dependence.
On another note, BCCL reported a weak operational performance for May as both coal production and offtake declined sharply from the previous year.
Its raw coal production was down 25.5% at 2.28 million tonne (MT) in May from 3.06 MT in the year-ago period. The company’s raw coal offtake declined 15.7% to 2.71 MT from 3.22 MT last year.
On a cumulative basis, the production was down 33.8% at 4.27 MT, while offtake declined 20.9% to 4.97 MT.
Last month, the company commenced the commercial operations of its 2 MTPA Bhojudih Coal Washery. The same is a three-product medium coking coal washery with raw coal washing capacity of 20 lakh tonne per annum. BCCL said the washery would facilitate production of washed coking coal to supply to the steel sector.
BCCL reported a 15% decline in its topline in the March quarter with an EBITDA loss of ₹335 crore compared to an EBITDA profit of ₹62 crore in the year-agoperiod.
After having made an intraday high of ₹44.4 with a 10% jump, shares of Bharat Coking Coal are off those elevated levels, still trading 6% higher at ₹42.74. The stock has nearly doubled from its issue price of ₹23.
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