Understanding the Grades and Characteristics of Indian Coal
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Why in News?
A recent report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project says that in 2014, the Adani Group falsely labelled low-quality Indonesian coal as high-quality.
They increased its value and sold it to Tamil Nadu's power company, TANGEDCO. The report comes from a group funded by billionaire George Soros.
Coal Quality and Gradation
Understanding Coal Quality
Coal quality is measured by its Gross Calorific Value (GCV), which is the amount of heat or energy produced when the coal is burned. Coal is a fossil fuel made up of carbon, ash, moisture, and various impurities. Higher carbon content means better quality coal.
Types of Coal
Coal is categorized into:
- Non-coking coal: Graded based on Gross Heat content.
- Coking coal: Graded based on ash content.
- Semi coking coal and weakly coking coal**: Graded based on ash and moisture content.
Coal Grades
Coal has 17 grades, with grade 1 being the highest quality. Grade 1 coal generates over 7,000 kcal/kg, while the lowest grades produce 2,200-2,500 kcal/kg. Higher carbon content in coal means a higher grade.
Application Context
The usefulness of coal varies by application. For example:
- Non-coking coal: Used in thermal power plants. It can have higher ash content but still generate enough heat for boilers and turbines.
- Coking coal: Essential for steel production, it requires minimal ash content.
What are the characteristics of Indian coal?
Low Calorific Value
Indian coal has historically been known for its high ash content and low calorific value compared to imported coal. The average GCV of domestic thermal coal ranges from 3,500-4,000 kcal/kg, while imported thermal coal has a GCV of over 6,000 kcal/kg.
High Ash Content
Indian coal has an average ash content of over 40%, compared to less than 10% in imported coal. Burning high-ash coal results in more particulate matter, nitrogen, and sulfur dioxide emissions.
Government Policies
Since 1954, the government has controlled coal prices to prevent the use of high-grade coking coal for power generation. To manage coal production, meet power needs, and reduce pollution, the government recommends using imported coal with lower ash and moisture content. In 2012, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) suggested blending 10-15% imported coal with Indian coal for power boilers designed for low-quality domestic coal.
What is Clean coal?
About Clean Coal
Clean coal refers to technologies and practices aimed at reducing the environmental impact of coal energy production by increasing its carbon content and reducing its ash content. These methods strive to make coal a cleaner energy source, lessening its negative effects on the environment and human health.
Production of Clean Coal
Key aspects of clean coal technology include:
- Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Capturing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and storing them underground to prevent them from entering the atmosphere.
- Coal Washing: Removing impurities from coal before it is burned to reduce emissions of ash, sulfur, and other pollutants.
- Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD): Also known as scrubbers, this technology removes sulfur dioxide from the exhaust flue gases of coal-fired power plants.
- Gasification: Converting coal into synthetic gas (syngas), which burns cleaner than coal.
- Advanced Combustion Techniques: Improving the efficiency of coal combustion to reduce emissions and increase energy output.
Disadvantages Associated with Coal Washing
Coal plants use washing techniques, employing blowers or baths to remove ash and moisture. However, this process is costly and increases power production expenses.
Coal Gasification
An alternative method is coal gasification, which converts coal into gas. Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) systems use steam and pressurized air or oxygen to create syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, CO2, and water vapor). The syngas is cleaned and burned in gas turbines to produce electricity. IGCC increases coal efficiency by generating both steam and syngas, resulting in cleaner and more efficient power production.
Future of Coal in India
Production
In 2023-24, India produced 997 million tonnes of coal, marking an 11% increase over the previous year. Most of this coal was produced by the state-owned Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries.
Coal in India's Energy Economy
Coal remains the mainstay of India’s energy economy, even as the country aims to transition its electricity sector away from fossil fuels.
Change is in the Air
For the first time this year, renewable energy made up 71.5% of the record 13.6 GW power generation capacity added by India in the first quarter. During this period, coal’s share (including lignite) of total power capacity dropped below 50% for the first time since the 1960s.
Divergent Views Emerge Within IAMAI on Proposed Digital Competition Bill
Why in News?
Divergent Stance on the Digital Competition Bill
Four members of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have taken a different position on the proposed Digital Competition Bill (DCB). They have written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) urging the quick implementation of regulations to prevent anti-competitive practices.
Apprehensions About the Draft Bill
In May 2024, the IAMAI expressed concerns about the draft Digital Competition Bill 2024. The association argued against the need for ex-ante (before the event) regulations for digital markets in their submission on the draft bill.
About IAMAI
IAMAI is a key industry body that represents numerous digital entities, including major tech firms.
What is Digital Competition Bill, 2024?
About the Digital Competition Bill
The Digital Competition Bill aims to regulate large digital enterprises, including news aggregators, to ensure fair competition in the digital space. Proposed in March 2024, the bill seeks to:
Regulate Big Tech: Prevent companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon from favoring their own services or using data from one business to benefit another.
Ex-Ante Regulations: Establish presumptive norms to curb anti-competitive practices before they occur.
Heavy Penalties: Impose substantial penalties, potentially amounting to billions of dollars, for violations.
Nodal Ministry
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is responsible for handling the draft of the Digital Competition Bill.
What is the need for such bill?
Ex Post Antitrust Framework in India
Currently, India operates under an ex post antitrust framework established by the Competition Act, 2002. However, there have been significant criticisms of this approach.
Criticisms of the Current Framework
- Delays in Regulation: One major criticism is that regulating aftermarket abuse occurs leads to delays. By the time the offending company is penalized, market dynamics may have changed, disadvantaging smaller competitors.
- Ineffectiveness in Digital Markets: In the complex world of digital markets, regulating after market abuse (ex-post) may not be optimal.
- Advocacy for Ex-Ante Framework: There's a call for a forward-looking, preventive, and presumptive law (ex-ante framework) that anticipates potential antitrust issues and establishes pre-determined boundaries to prevent abuse.
History of Anti-Competitive Practices by Big Tech
Big tech companies, notably Google, have a history of engaging in anti-competitive practices. For example, in 2023, Google was fined Rs 1.337 crore by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for its anti-competitive conduct in the Android ecosystem.
High Market Barriers for New Entrants
Analysts argue that most of the innovation in the tech sector has been limited to a few big US-based companies. This is partly due to the high market barriers for new entrants, particularly in the online market. Once a company establishes significant market share, it becomes difficult for rivals to challenge their dominance, creating a default preference for their products or services.
What are the key proposals of the draft digital competition Bill 2024?
List of Core Digital Services (CDS)
The bill outlines core digital services (CDS) under Schedule I, including:
1. Online search engines
2. Online social networking services
3. Video-sharing platform services
4. Interpersonal communications services
5. Operating systems
6. Web browsers
7. Cloud services
8. Advertising services
9. Online intermediation services (such as webhosting, service providers, payment sites, auction sites, app stores, e-commerce marketplaces, and aggregators)
Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs)
The bill proposes to designate certain enterprises as Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs). SSDEs provide core digital services in India and have a significant presence and financial strength in the country.
Parameters for SSDE Designation
The bill proposes two tests to determine SSDE designation:
1. Financial Strength Test: Turnover in India not less than Rs 4,000 crore in the last 3 financial years, or global turnover not less than $30 billion.
2. Spread Test (User Base Test): Core digital service should have at least 1 crore end users or 10,000 business users.
Obligations of SSDEs
SSDEs are prohibited from engaging in practices such as self-preferencing, anti-steering, and restricting third-party applications. Violations can result in fines up to 10% of their global turnover.
Associate Digital Enterprises (ADEs)
The bill proposes to designate associate digital enterprises (ADEs) to assess the role of data collected by one company within a major technology group in benefiting other group companies. ADEs have the same obligations as SSDEs based on their involvement with the core digital service offered by the main company. For example, Google Maps could be considered an associate entity because Google Search directs users to it. Similarly, YouTube's status as an ADE depends on the data shared between Google Search and YouTube, which affects the video recommendations made to users.
Relationship Between the Harappan and the Vedic Age
Why in News?
Archaeologists are collaborating with Sanskrit scholars to decode the Rigveda, continuing research that may uncover connections between the people of the Vedic age and the Harappan civilization.
Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC)/ Harappa Civilisation (3300 - 1300 BCE):
The Indus Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, was a Bronze Age civilization located in the northwestern regions of South Asia. It earned its name from Harappa, now in Punjab, which was the first site excavated in the early 20th century.
Alongside ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of the three early civilizations of the Near East and South Asia, and the most extensive among them. Its sites covered an area from northeast Afghanistan, through much of Pakistan, into western and northwestern India.
The civilization prospered in the basins of the Indus River and along rivers that once flowed near the seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. Its cities were known for their urban planning, baked brick houses, sophisticated drainage systems, water supply systems, large non-residential buildings, and advancements in handicrafts (like carnelian products and seal carving) and metallurgy (including copper, bronze, lead, and tin).
Urbanization likely began as the region's soil gradually dried out during the third millennium BCE. However, the civilization eventually declined as weaker monsoons and reduced water supply forced its population to disperse eastward and southward.
The Vedic Age (1500 - 600 BCE):
The Vedic age, occurring during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of India's history, saw the composition of Vedic literature, including the Vedas, in the northern Indian subcontinent. It marks the period between the decline of the urban Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) and the onset of the second urbanization, starting in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain around 600 BCE.
In terms of literature, social structures, and cultural development, the Vedic age is divided into two stages:
1. The Rigvedic period or Early Vedic period (circa 1500 BC to 1000 BC).
2. The Later Vedic period (circa 1000 BC to 600 BC).
During the Early Vedic period, the early Vedic Aryans lived in the region known as Sapta-Sindhu, an area of seven rivers, in and around present-day Punjab.
As the Vedic age progressed into the Later Vedic period, the Vedic Aryans gradually migrated eastward, settling in areas such as eastern Uttar Pradesh (Kosala) and north Bihar (Videha).
How Archaeologists are Establishing Relationships Between the Harappan and the Vedic Age?
Ongoing Debates
Recent NCERT Addition
The NCERT recently updated the Class 12 History textbook, suggesting that the Harappans were indigenous based on DNA evidence from the remains of a 4,600-year-old woman. However, a disclaimer was added, acknowledging the need for further research to confirm this relationship.
Dating of the Vedas
Some historians propose that the Vedas date back to around 2,500 BC, which would align with the time of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC).
Archaeological Investigations
Establishing Harappan-Vedic Connection
Archaeologists are investigating the hypothesis that the Harappans and the Vedic people were the same. Renowned archaeologist Vasant Shinde emphasizes the importance of understanding Rigveda texts to correlate them with archaeological findings at Harappan sites.
Evidence from Excavations
- At the Rakhigarhi site in Haryana, archaeologists discovered ritual platforms and fire altars, echoing the mention of fire worship in Rigvedic texts.
- The Rigveda mentions the Saraswati River numerous times, and many Harappan settlements were found along the banks of the modern Ghagghar-Hakra river, believed to be the ancient Saraswati.
- Archaeo-zoologists studying animal bones in the Surkotada region of Kutch, Gujarat, found bones that some researchers suggest belong to domesticated horses, as mentioned in the Rigveda. However, another group concluded they belonged to wild asses.
