India’s coal imports grew by 19% to 210.55 million tonnes (MT) in 2014 as against 176.97 MT in 2013 on the back of high demand from power sector. During the year, steam coal imports stood at 162.96 MT, up 22% from 133.54 MT imported in 2013 whereas coking coal imports in 2014 rose by 4.04% to 37.06 MT from 35.62 MT in 2013.
During the April to December period of this fiscal, imports of coal stood at 167.60 MT, up 20.89% from 138.64 MT imported during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Ongoing coal industry strike is likely to cause a further spurt in coal imports in coming months.
The Coal Ministry had notified that the focus of the ministry to increase coal production to the maximum extent possible by facilitating environment and forest clearances expeditiously and pursuing with state government for assistance in land acquisition.
India’s coal demand is around 35 percent higher than domestic supply. Coal shortage in the country has become a concern for Indian power sector as coal-fired plants account for 59% of India's installed electricity capacity. Presently, the Coal India (CIL) is the only producer of domestic coal accounting for around 80% of the domestic production. Amid rising domestic demand, annual target of the coal production for Coal India has been increased to 630.25MT for the current fiscal. Further, the government had also set a target of one billion tonnes of coal production for CIL by 2019 from the current levels of 500 MT.
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