Accurate prediction of percentage unburnt carbon in fly ash in the case of high ash content Indian coal, at the design stage, is generally difficult. In the present paper, a large number of laboratory test data and site data are used to understand the mechanism of unburnt carbon in fly ash as well as in bottom ash. Rigorous statistical analysis of the performance data taken from tangentially fired boilers shows that empirical correlation between a combination of coal properties and percentage unburnt carbon in fly ash exist. Equations to predict percentage unburnt carbon in fly ash and bottom ash have been proposed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.