Petroleum & natural gas and steel minister Dharmendra Pradhan discussed with Russian representatives in New Delhi this week the possibility of India sourcing coking coal form Russia’s Far East.

Pradhan met with a Russian delegation that included Far East Russia Investment and Export Agency chief executive Leonid Petukov. They discussed “…further developing economic linkages with Far East Russia, particularly through sourcing of metallurgical or coking coal, development of infrastructure of Far East Russia ports and connectivity of these ports with Russian mining locations, and improvements in evacuation infrastructure," India's steel ministry says.

This follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia’s Far East in September. Since then, Indian steelmakers have started testing samples of coking coal from Far Eastern Russia in their plants.

“Offtake of coal from Far East Russia can grow as the coking coal from Far East Russia becomes more attractive from the point of view of price, ease of availability, connectivity to the ports and sea transport,” the steel ministry says in a note seen by Kallanish.

Pradhan said he hopes for improvements in developing inland as well as port logistics and rail connectivity in Russia’s Far East that would support economic linkages with India. He also suggested the Far East Russia Investment and Export Agency should indicate specific concessions that can be made to Indian importers of coking coal and to offer port facilities at preferential terms for Indian companies.

The coming months will see a significant increase in import of coking coal for India’s steel industry from Far Eastern Russia, the minister adds.

India currently imports over 50 million tonnes/year of coking coal. In view of the opportunity offered by Far Eastern Russia coking coal supply, India’s government earlier extended a $1 billion line of credit to Russia to develop the region.