What’s Broken: India’s Coal Quality and the Crisis We’re Not Talking About

The Hidden Cost of Coal’s Success

India’s coal output is breaking records. But behind the headlines of “1 billion tonnes produced” lies a deeper crisis—our coal is some of the dirtiest in the world. While the country chases energy independence, it’s burdened with high-ash, low-calorific coal that clogs systems, pollutes skies, and adds enormous hidden costs. This is the quality problem—and it’s time we faced it head-on. 

The Illusion of Abundance 

India’s coal output is staggering on paper: FY2024–25 saw ~1,040 million tonnes of coal produced nationwide (CIL ~781.1 Mt, SCCL ~65 Mt, plus ~198 Mt by captive/private miners). Coal India (CIL) alone accounts for ~80% of domestic supply. The largest producing subsidiaries were Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL, Odisha) with ~212 Mt and SECL (Chhattisgarh) with ~171 Mt in FY25. 

Why Quantity Masks Poor Quality 

Yet this quantity hides poor quality. Most of India’s coal is in low grades (G11–G14) with very high ash and low calorific value. In practice, India’s thermal coal grades contain 35–50% ash and just 2500–4500 kcal/kg (GCV) – far below imported coal. In other words, our “abundant” coal often contains up to half dirt, yielding far less energy per tonne than cleaner imports. This imbalance means that a tonne of Indian coal produces much less power than expected and leaves enormous ash residue behind. 

High-Ash Coal: The Root of the Problem

How It Disrupts Plant Operations

Indian coal’s high ash severely undermines plant performance. ROM coal from open pits routinely hits 35–50% ash. High ash causes wear on boilers and mills, reduces boiler efficiency (higher coal burn per MWh), and leads to large unburnt-carbon losses. NITI/TERI analyses show that lowering ash by washing could boost thermal efficiency by 4–5% (with commensurate CO₂ reductions). In contrast, burning 40%+ ash coal stresses equipment: pulverisers clog, burner flame stalls, and inerts occupy furnace volume instead of fuel. The result is huge fly ash volumes (laden with unburnt carbon) and extra emissions of particulates. Crucially, ash inversely correlates with heat value – high-ash seams yield low GCV, so India’s coal pool (dominated by G11–G14) inherently delivers far less energy per tonne than cleaner grades.

Less Than 10% of Coal is Washed

A Neglected Solution 

Despite the need, only a sliver of India’s thermal coal is beneficiated. Wet washeries have been built (public and private) to scrub impurities, but actual washery throughput remains lt;10% of production. India’s installed washery capacity (c. 214 Mtpa as of 2022) is underutilized. Commercial washery projects are often remote or small, and many older public washeries are idle. Building new ones faces delays (land, water, funding) and plants balk at high delivered coal costs.

Why Washeries Struggle to Scale  

Where washeries do exist, they are capital- and resource-intensive. Capex ranges ~₹18–35 Crore per million tonnes-per-annum (MTPA) capacity, while Opex is roughly ₹80–120 per raw-tonne washed. Typical boilers-grade wash plants (dense-media separation) need added costs (magnetite, flocculants) and generate heavy slurries. Crucially, a washery consumes large water volumes. Regulations cap washery water use at about 1.5 m³ per tonne of coal (with mandatory recycling and ZLD), but real demands can be ~3–5 m³/t including losses. Settling ponds and zero-liquid-discharge systems are required to handle dirty effluent, adding land and treatment burdens. In sum, the economics and logistics of existing washeries – high ₹/t costs, big water demand, need for tailings dams – have kept the wash rate very low and benefit realization minimal.

2020–21 Mandate Reversal

From Regulation to Deregulation

Paradoxically, policy once mandated washing, but recent years saw a rollback. In Jan 2014 the MoEFCC ordered all coal-fired plants located beyond 500 km from the pithead to burn coal with ≤34% ash. That rule even required new mines ≥2.5 MTPA to include washeries. But under pressure of India’s late-2020 “energy crunch” and admitted washery shortfall, the government reversed course.

What the New Notification Meant 

In May 2020 MoEFCC issued a new notification saying it would no longer regulate coal ash content for TPPs. Thermal plants were thereafter free to burn any ash-level coal, provided they meet emissions standards and handle fly ash properly. The change – defended in court as “based on technical study and stakeholder inputs” – effectively scrapped the 2014 34%-ash mandate. In other words, policymakers threw caution to the wind: prioritizing coal supply over quality control, even as scrubbed coal capacity remains negligible.

Consequences of Not Washing

1. Flyash Surges Beyond Control

Refusing to wash coal has major hidden costs. First, fly ash surges. India’s coal plants now produce on the order of 225–230 Mt of fly ash annually. Only roughly 60–70% of that gets “beneficially used” (in cement, bricks, etc.), far short of the MoEFCC’s goal of 100% utilization by 2022. The rest piles up in ash ponds and landfills, risking land use and heavy metal leaching. 

2. Pollution and Non-Compliance 

Second, air pollution worsens. Particulate (PM) emissions are already high from many plants despite electrostatic precipitators. The newer SO₂/NOₓ norms (100/50 mg/Nm³ by 2022–24) are effectively unmet: lt;8% of India’s coal‐power capacity has installed flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) units as of 2022. (NOₓ control additions are similarly far behind.) This means most plants burning high-ash coal emit far more SO₂/NOₓ than counterparts abroad. Even PM2.5 from unwashed coal is elevated due to higher inert and carbon flyash. 

3. Inefficient Logistics and Ballooning Costs

Third, logistics costs balloon. Every extra percentage of ash burned is extra weight hauled. Freight charges and rail congestion swell because 30–50% of every coal train is junk rock. The government’s own logistics plan calculates that shifting bulk transport modes (coal-specific wagons, etc.) can save ₹21,000+nbsp;Cr/yr – underscoring how inefficient current coal transport is. (A broad estimate is that the implicit annual cost of hauling inert material is on the order of ₹15–20 thousand crore.) Unwashed coal also damages wagon rakes and increases power for movement. In short, the entire supply chain – from mine to mill – is fattened and troubled by inert ash weight.

Global Comparison

How Other Countries Clean Their Coal

By world standards, India’s coal is an outlier. China washes roughly 70–75% of its raw coal, and Australia (>80%) and South Africa (exporting) run nearly all output through washeries. Even the USA washes about 40–50% of its steam coal. In contrast, India washes virtually none of its domestic thermal output beyond a few captive plants. 

Global Best Practice vs. Indian Reality 

Domestic coal’s 30–40%+ ash is among the worst globally, while our beneficiation rate is among the lowest. International “best practice” is to upgrade coal before burning – a norm in China, Australia and elsewhere. India’s failure to do so means wasting scarce coal, choking its plants, and generating avoidable pollution – a crisis largely ignored amid the production fanfare.

Conclusion: The Crisis Beneath the Tonnes

India’s coal story can’t be measured in output alone. A billion tonnes of poor-quality fuel don’t strengthen the grid—it strains it. Until washing and beneficiation become the norm, we will continue to burn more, transport more, and pollute more—all while getting less energy per tonne. The result is an unsustainable loop of inefficiency masked by production growth. 

In the next blog, we explore a proven dry beneficiation technology that may be India’s way forward.