By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/ANGUL: Naveen Jindal owned Jindal Steel and Power Limited may try its best to keep the Chendipada Coal blocks under Talcher Coalfields Areas of Odisha’s Angul district in the ensuing bidding for commercial coal blocks, process for which had already started, sources closely monitoring the commercial coal block auction, said on Sunday.
Of the 9 blocks in Odisha, fierce bidding for Odisha’s Chendipada (40 MTPA) and Macchakatta (30 MTPA) blocks is expected along with Chhattisgarh’s Gare Pelma IV/1 (6 MTPA) coal block, sources said. Odisha will get around Rs 10,648 Crore from 9 Commercial Coal Blocks.
Presently as many as 6 Coal blocks ready to start mining at Chhendipada block of Angul in Odisha. The 9 Coal blocks of Odisha to be auctioned are Chendipada I, Chendipada II, Machhakata, Mahanadi, Radhikapur (East), Radhikapur (West), Brahmanbil and Kardabahal, Kuraloi (A) North, and Phuljhari (East and West).
JSPL operates the world’s first coal gasification based DRI plant of 2.0 million tonne capacity at Angul in Odisha, where syngas is used to make direct-reduced iron (DRI) or sponge iron, an input required in the steel-making process. JSPL’s coal gasification plant capacity is 225,000 NM3 per hour of syngas, which is supporting the 2.0 million MT of syngas based DRI plant.
JSPL currently has a requirement of around 5.5 million MT per year of metallurgical coal and 7 million MT of thermal coal requirements. Improved domestic availability will reduce dependence upon imported thermal coal. Also, India is dependent upon imported metallurgical coal, but the Government’s impetus on coal gasification will likely reduce the dependency on imported metallurgical coal in the future.
VR Sharma, Managing Director, JSPL, said in an interview to a News Agency, that even during Covid-19, JSPL Indian operations recorded ever highest monthly steel (including pig iron) production of 626,000 tonnes in June 2020. Even during Covid-19, JSPL Indian operations recorded ever highest monthly steel (including pig iron) production of 626,000 tonnes in June 2020 and ever highest quarterly steel (including pig iron) production of 1,670,000 tonnes in Q1 FY’21.
The company recorded a 12 per cent growth (quarter-on-quarter) in sales volumes and an 8 per cent rise (q-o-q) in standalone steel production (including pig iron) during Q1 FY21. JSPL clocked ever highest standalone export sales of 900,000 tonnes in Q1 FY21, the export sales contributed to 58 per cent of total sales volumes in Q1 FY21. JSPL’s consolidated steel sales rises by 7 per cent Q-o-Q. Yes, owing to the Covid-19 lockdown, the domestic steel demand was subdued during the last quarter; hence export evacuation supported the plant operations and capacity utilization.
