Team News Riveting
New Delhi, July 14
India would get coking coal, one of the key irreplaceable inputs for the production of steel, from Russia.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Steel of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation on cooperation regarding coking Coal, which is used for Steel making.
The MoU shall benefit the entire steel sector by reducing its input cost. Subsequently, it may lead to reduction in cost of steel in the country and promote equity and inclusiveness.
The deal will provide an institutional mechanism for co-operation in the coking coal sector between India and Russia. The objective of the MoU is to strengthen cooperation between Government of India and Government of Russia in the steel sector. The activities involved in the cooperation are aimed at diversifying source of coking coal.
The volume of supply would be 40 million tonne (MT) annually, though the Government of India had not revealed it.
“We have prepared a draft memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Steel Industry of India. While preparing this document, we held several meetings via videoconferencing because of the pandemic and our Indian partners said, that they would like to purchase at least 40 MT of coking coal from Russia. Of course, we have the opportunity to ensure such supplies,” Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky had said last month, noting that coal exports from Russia are growing.
He added despite losses in coal production, Russia managed to increase exports in 2020.
