Coal imports rise to 90.51 mt in Apr-Jul

New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) There is a “critical need” for coal imports, and the country has reported a marginal rise of 0.9 per cent to 90.51 mt in the April-July period of FY25, according to an official statement.

India, which has the fifth-largest coal reserves in the world, is also its second-largest consumer, driven by a rapidly growing economy, Ministry of Coal said on Wednesday.

Coal production during the April-July FY25 period increased 9.56 per cent to 321.40 MT from 293.35 MT in FY24.

“However, the current consumption landscape reveals a critical need for imports, particularly for coking coal and high-grade thermal coal, which are not sufficiently available within domestic reserves. This shortfall necessitates imports to support key industries, including steel,” it said.

According to the ministry, coal imports during April-July period of FY25 reported a marginal increase of 0.9 per cent, reaching 90.51 million tonnes (MT) level compared to 89.68 MT in the previous year.

While the non-coking coal imports increased 2 per cent, coking coal imports declined 2.6 per cent. In July alone, coal imports rose 15.9 per cent to 21.81 MT from 18.82 MT in July 2023.

The ministry further said the imports for blending purposes have decreased 8.2 per cent despite a 10.18 per cent year-on-year growth in coal-based power generation from April-July 2024 compared to the same period last year.

Additionally, the coal imports by the non-regulated sector saw a significant decline of 11 per cent to 44.97 MT from 50.53 MT earlier.