Coal India plans to import about 250 million tonnes over the next 10 years to meet the country's growing requirement

Coal India plans to import about 250 million tonnes (mt) over the next 10 years to meet the country's growing requirement.“We have short-listed about 21 global companies to import some 250 mt over the next 10 years as part of the long-term-off take deals,” Mr Partha Bhattacharyya, Chairman, Coal India, told reporters on the sidelines of an event on mine safety.

However, Mr Bhattacharyya declined to disclose the pricing details. As part of the long-term off-take deals, Coal India expects to start imports from next fiscal. Shares of Coal India ended marginally lower on BSE at Rs 312.50 on Thursday.Mr Bhattacharyya said environmental issues such as a ban on mining in critically polluted areas would impact the company's targeted output in the current fiscal.

The Environment Ministry had imposed a temporary moratorium on development projects in some 43 industrial clusters, which were found to be critically polluted. Such a ban was based on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI), which mapped the pollution levels in industrial clusters. Some 17 mines of Coal India including that of Chandrapur and Korba were part of the identified critically polluted sectors.

“CEPI was supposed to be reviewed in October, but it has been extended till March. This would impact our output by 16 mt,” Mr Bhattacharyya said. Coal India had set a production target of 460 mt for the current fiscal. Coal India expects the shortfall to increase to 39 mt in 2011-12, if the moratorium continued beyond March 31, 2011.