New Delhi, Feb 7 : Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Thursday said that his office is taking all steps to improve the energy efficiency programmes including improving the quality and quantity of coal supplies to various consumers.

Addressing the India Energy Congress here, Jaiswal stated that the move of the government towards adopting Gross Calorific Value (GCV) based grading and pricing of thermal coals in place of the earlier Useful Heat Value (UHV) based system is a step forward towards this direction.

He said that coal companies are also taking different steps for proper crushing, sizing and preparation of coal for ensuring consistency in quality of supplies'"We are all aware that coal is playing a critical role in supporting our energy plans and the situation is not going to change in any significant manner in quite some time into the future.

However, the fuel supply is getting adversely affected due to production constraints on various accounts. While, Government is seized of the issues, efforts are being made at different levels to find amicable solutions and make available the desired level of supplies of coal with particular emphasis on power sector," said Jaiswal.

"India is also closely following the global trends in adopting energy efficient technologies and the policy of government to have 100 percent super-critical technology based plants for additional capacity from `13th Five Year Plan' onwards in itself will bear testimony of the efforts in this direction," he added.

Having entered into international protocols for addressing climate change issues, it is all the more important for the country like India to address all areas of energy efficiency improvements irrespective of the sectors.

"The move of the government towards adopting Gross Calorific Value (GCV) based grading and pricing of thermal coals in place of the earlier Useful Heat Value (UHV) based system is a step forward to improve the quality of coal as well as efficient use of coal in the country," said Jaiswal.

Jaiswal expressed hope that the ministry will achieve its objective through various awareness, training and demonstration programmes according to the experts' views. (ANI)