India Must Sort Its Coal Before It Washes It, John Finlay India Tells CLI 2026
A group with 130+ coal washeries under its operation argues the next efficiency gain sits ahead of the wet circuit, not inside it.
KOLKATA, 11 September 2026: India’s coal washeries are spending capacity washing material that should never have entered the circuit, and the next gain in beneficiation efficiency will come from removing it earlier, John Finlay India Pvt. Ltd. (JFI) told the 6th International Conference & Expo on Coal Supply Chain & Technology (CLI 2026) in Kolkata.
Presenting the paper “An AI-first approach to coal beneficiation, UGM and UCG,” Sanjay Singh, Vice President – Strategic Growth & Planning, set out 3 propositions:
- Sort rejects out of the feed before washing;
- Control the plant on live density, ash and yield data rather than on shift-end reconciliation;
- Extend recovery to reserves that conventional mining leaves stranded, including through underground coal gasification.
“The industry has spent 30 years optimizing the wash. The next gain is not inside the cyclone; it is in what we send to it.”
— Sanjay Singh, Vice President – Strategic Growth & Planning, John Finlay India
The John Finlay Eng. & Tech. Group, of which JFI is the Indian arm, has 130+ coal washeries under operations and maintenance and has executed EPC projects for coking and thermal washeries of up to 30 MTPA across 5 decades in India, Australia and China. The group delivers under EPC, BOO and O&M models.
Mr. Singh spoke in Technical Session 3 on Efficient and Alternate Utilization of Coal, alongside Deloitte India, IASF Technologies India and CSIR–CIMFR, in a session chaired by Shri T. K. Nag, Former CMD, Northern Coalfields Limited. CLI 2026 was organized by the Indian Coal Forum at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre on 3-4 September and inaugurated by Shri B. Sairam, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Coal India Limited.
About John Finlay India Pvt. Ltd.
John Finlay India Pvt. Ltd. (JFI) designs and supplies process equipment and complete coal washery solutions engineered for Indian coal. JFI is part of the John Finlay Eng. & Tech. Group, founded in 1974, and draws on the Group’s experience of 130+ coal washeries across India, Australia and China. Its capabilities span design engineering, equipment supply, EPC, and operations & maintenance.
Learn more at www.johnfinlay.in.