India plans to ramp up its washing facilities for raw coking coal, a key input for the steel industry, in order to reduce its reliance on imports of the commodity. 

State-owned Coal India Ltd. plans to build nine washeries with a capacity of 30 million tons per annum. India currently has 23 million tons of capacity a year.

About half of the coking coal from washeries Coal India plans to install will be supplied to the steel sector, thus reducing imports, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement. Ten coking coal blocks with a peak rate capacity of 22.5 million tons have already been auctioned to the private sector in the past two years, with most expected to start production in 2025.

The plans comprise part of India’s aim to increase coking coal output threefold by 2030 to keep up with rising demand.