India’s coal import falls 6.37% due to higher production by Coal India

The overall domestic production of coal was 659.27 million tonnes against the demand of 884.87 million tonnes.

India’s coal import declined by 6.37% to 191.95 million tonnes in the last fiscal of 2016-17 on account of higher production by Coal India Ltd (CIL) which indicates that the country has moved to a regime of coal surplus.

In the fiscal of 2015-16, imports of coal stood at 203.95 million tonnes, according to official data. “On enhanced production by CIL, the country has moved from a regime of coal scarcity to a coal surplus situation,” a media statement by CIL said. The overall domestic production of coal was 659.27 million tonnes against a demand of 884.87 million tonnes, it reads.The Government has announced that it is planning to boost the annual production capacity of CIL to 1 billion tonnes by 2019 in order to meet the increasing demand of fuel.So far, the Government has allocated 30 mines to private sector firms through auction for specified end purposes, under the Coal Mines (Special Provisional) Act, 2015.In the current fiscal, imports of thermal coal also shows a declining trend.
Steam and thermal coal imports have declined 17.37% at the 12 major ports to 29.82 million tonnes during the April-July period of 2017-18, as per the Indian Ports Association (IPA).
Government controlled ports handled around 36 million tonnes of steam and thermal coal during the similar period of the last fiscal.
Thermal coal is the backbone in the energy programme of India as 70% of power generation is reliant on dry fuel.
Handling of coking coal has declined by 4.45% to 16.51 million tonnes, according to the recent data by the IPA. Coking coal is mainly used in steel-making.
These major ports had handled around 17.27 million tonnes of coking coal during the period April-July 2016-17.
Collectively, they handled around 46.33 million tonnes of coal in April-July period this fiscal compared to 53.36 million tonnes in the same period a year ago.
India is the third largest coal producing country after China and the US. The country has about 299 billion tonnes of coal resources and proven reserves of 123 billion tonnes, which may last for more than 100 years.

India’s coal import declined by 6.37% to 191.95 million tonnes

Coal imports decline to 192 million tonnes in FY17

Import of coal saw a decline of 6.37 percent to 191.95 million tonnes (MT) in 2016-17 on higher production by Coal India (CIL) that saw the country move to a regime of surplus coal.

Comparatively, in 2015-16 fiscal, coal imports stood at 203.95 MT, as per official data by the government.

"On enhanced production by Coal India (CIL), the country has moved from a regime of coal scarcity to a coal surplus situation," the document said.

As against the demand of 884.87 MT of coal, the total domestic production stood at 659.27 MT, it said.

The Centre has announced plans to boost CIL's annual production to the level of 1 billion tonnes by 2019 to meet the growing fuel demand.

Under the provisions of the Coal Mines (Special Provisional) Act, 2015, 30 mines have been allocated to private sector companies by way of auction for specified end uses till date.

The ongoing fiscal also shows a declining trend, especially of thermal coal.

Thermal and steam coal imports have fallen 17.37 per cent at the top 12 major ports to 29.82 MT during April-July this fiscal, according to the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

The ports, under the control of the Centre, had handled 36.09 MT of thermal and steam coal during the same period of the previous fiscal.

Thermal coal is the mainstay of India's energy programme as 70 per cent of power generation is dependent on the dry fuel.

Handling of coking coal, used mainly in steel-making, has also dipped 4.45 per cent to 16.51 MT, as per the latest data released by the IPA.

These ports had handled 17.27 MT of coking coal in April-July period of 2016-17.

Together, they handled 46.33 MT coal during April-July this fiscal as against 53.36 MT in the same period of the previous year.

India is the third-largest producer of coal after China and the US and has 299 billion tonnes of resources and 123 billion tonnes of proven reserves, which may last for over 100 years.

The country has 12 major ports - Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V.O. Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) — which handle approximately 65 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.

Imports of Coal