India’s coal imports fell in January by 21.7 per cent to 14.31 million tonnes (MT) against 18.28 MT in the same month last year, on the back of sufficient availability of fuel with the power utilities.
As per mjunction services, an online procurement and sales platform floated jointly by SAIL and Tata Steel, coal imports were lower in January because in power sector, the state utilities are replete with stock and are aiming to curb imports altogether (except for coast-based plants) by March 2017. Besides, there was decrease in non-coking coal imports in January 2017 compared to December 2016 since non-power sector consumers stopped restocking the material after steam coal prices reversed its declining trend midway through January.
Earlier, in September 2016, the government had said that it was working on a plan to end dependency on coal imports in next 3-4 months in order to facilitate consumption of the surplus fossil fuel produced by Coal India (CIL). In 2015-16, CIL which accounts for over 80% of domestic output, achieved a record production of 536 MT, which was 42 MT more than the previous fiscal.