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Fuel guide

Coal or pellets?
The honest comparison.

Coal wins on some things, pellets on others. Here's what matters for your boiler.

Side by side

The numbers that matter

Imported coal
Wood pellets
Mustard husk, groundnut shell & cotton stalk pellets
Heat (GCV, kcal/kg)
4,200–5,500
4,000–4,600
3,600–4,100
Ash to clean
10–40%
0.5–3%
4–10%
Sulphur
0.3–1%
Near zero
Very low
Fuel cost per tonne of steam*
~₹1,900–2,000
~₹2,100–2,300
~₹1,800–1,900
Plus ash, labour, upkeep
+₹200–400
+₹60–120
+₹100–200
Price stability
Swings with imports & rupee
Local, steadier
Local, seasonal
Storage
Open yard
Dry & covered
Dry & covered
GPCB / ESG
Growing pressure, fossil CO₂
Clean fuel, biogenic CO₂
Clean fuel, biogenic CO₂

*Indicative, at 10 kg/cm² steam and typical efficiency, Sept 2026 market prices. Your numbers depend on your boiler and fuel. Try the calculator.

Pros & cons

No fuel is perfect

Coal

Good at
  • Most heat per kg
  • Often cheapest per kcal
  • Stores in the open
Costs you
  • Heavy ash, daily cleaning and disposal
  • Sulphur, smoke and black dust
  • GPCB pressure, imported price swings

Biomass pellets

Good at
  • Very low ash, little clinker (wood)
  • Near-zero sulphur, clean handling
  • Uniform size for automatic feeding
  • Made locally, helps GPCB & ESG
Costs you
  • Less heat per kg than coal
  • Must be stored dry
  • Fuel-only cost can be a little higher

Stay on coal if…

you run a large coal-designed boiler with pollution control in place, and only price per kg matters. We'll tell you so.

Switch to pellets if…

ash, clinker or smoke is a daily headache, you have an automatic boiler, or GPCB and customers are pushing you to clean up.

Not sure? Try pellets first.

Tell us how much coal you use. We'll compare its steam cost with our pellets and send a free* sample to try.
*Sample up to 10–100 kg free. Transport extra.