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In a letter written to the coal ministry, the steel ministry has asked for coal blocks for the two firms, which will mine the blocks and supply coal to the steel firms. “We have asked the coal ministry to give coal blocks to Manganese Ore India Ltd (MOIL) and Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) which have experience in mining. Blocks given will cater to the fuel requirement of steel firms exclusively,” Steel Secretary, P K Rastogi said. Separately, the steel ministry has asked the two firms to apply for coal blocks with the ministry of coal, he said. Steel companies have been complaining of shortage of coal to run their plants. While coking coal is used in the process of steel making, non-coking or thermal coal is used to run the captive power plants. In a meeting of the inter-ministerial group on steel yesterday, leading steel producers such as SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW Steel pointed out coal shortage as one of the primary reasons hurting their production targets. The delay in allotment of coal blocks for captive was also hitting their growth plans. “They said that only 50% of their coal requirement is being met at present and the steel ministry should do something about it,” Rastogi added.