Coal washing or coal preparation is a generic term that is used to designate the various operations performed on run-of-mine coal to prepare it for specific end uses, without destroying the physical identity of the coal. Coal preparation includes blending and homogenization, size reduction, grading, screening and handling and, perhaps most importantly, beneficiation or cleaning. In 2004, Hira Group commissioned 1.25 million tons per Annum coal washery at sirgitti industrial area, Bilaspur.