PTI recently reported that Bangladesh has lifted the ban imposed on imports of coal from Meghalaya.

Officials said “The ban was imposed on June 30th 2009, citing high sulphur content in coal mined from Meghalaya which causes pollution but, users prefer it for its low ash content.

However, this is the 6 time in 8 years that the Bangladesh government has imposed the ban, but every time it lifted the embargo after a couple of weeks due to pressure from the country's trading lobbies.

An official of Ghasuapara Coal Exporters Association said that the brick kilns in Bangladesh prefer Meghalaya coal due to its low ash content.

Moreover, Meghalaya exports around 0.5 million tonne of coal extracted from underground pits and bowels to Bangladesh every year at a cost of USD 52 per tonne. Exporters are likely to resume the coal supply to Bangladesh by the end of this month.

(Sourced from Press Trust of India)