Leading steel manufacturer Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) aims to source at least 25-30% of its coking coal requirements from domestic mines and has petitioned the government to allott it additional coal blocks for this purpose.

The company hopes to get about  7-8 million tonnes of  coking coal in this way said SAIL Director (raw materials & logistics) A K Pandey.

That is double of its present offtake from the market. Currently it has access to about 3.5 mt from its own mines and from Coal India. Another 11 mt is imported at a cost of nearly Rs 12,000 crore annually. With capacity expected to reach 24 mt next year, coking coal requirements are expected to be 21 mt.

SAIL had got already got two coal blocks at Jharia coal belt in Jharkhand.

The company’s net profit dipped 18% to Rs 696 crore for the first quarter ended June, 2012 on higher input costs.