New Delhi : The government’s audit watchdog CAG has pulled up steel giant SAIL for being heavily dependent on imported coking coal despite having three mines for captive use.
State-run SAIL requires about 15 million tonne (MT) coking coal annually, of which 12-13 MT is imported, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) noted in its latest report.
Coking coal is imported either through global tenders or under Long Term Agreements (LTAs).
“The company is heavily dependent on import of coal though it has three captive coking coal mines. Development of captive mines augments indigenous coking coal availability and safeguards against volatility of import prices,” CAG pointed in the report.
SAIL has two fully functional captive mines at Jitpur and Chasnalla to extract coking coal. Besides, mining is done at Tasra colliery on a small scale, the report said.
