Coal India (CIL) has unveiled a road map to phase out import of heavy-duty mining equipment in six years — a move that will save the world’s largest coal miner Rs 1,000 crore in additional expenses incurred on customs duty annually and foster domestic manufacturing.
CIL currently procures some gear from domestic manufacturers, but has to import high-capacity gears valued at Rs 3,500 crore and pays an additional Rs 1,000 crore as customs duty.
The roadmap proposed by an inter-disciplinary committee under CIL director (technical) starts with the recommendation to include tender clauses to promote use of indigenous equipment. This is to be backed up through a scheme to incentivise manufacturers to design, develop and manufacture equipment in India for five years under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Next is standardisation of equipment, already undertaken by CIL. This standard is to apply to captive miners and others, which will create demand for domestic manufacturers. The panel lays emphasis on manufacturing of aggregates such as engines, differentials & transmission systems and motors, etc with a view to improving supply of spares. This is expected to reduce repair time and improve availability of machinery. Imported equipment often remains stranded for long after a breakdown due to non-availability of spares.
The committee expects huge demand for heavy mining and earth moving equipment in the next 10 years since coal is projected to remain the predominant energy source even beyond 2030. The panel had representatives from the ministries of heavy industries, railways, coal mining companies SCCL & NLCIL, and others.
