The government has said the country's total coal import dropped around 12 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 94.15 million tonnes (MT) in April-August 2021, as compared with 107.01 MT during the corresponding period of 2019-20, on account of a substantial reduction in the import of non-coking coal. The coal ministry said this has resulted in considerable financial savings in the current year as coal prices are going up sharply in the international market.
The import of all varieties of non-coking coal reduced 16.09 per cent to 70.85 MT in the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal over the corresponding months of FY 2019-20.The country had imported 84.44 MT of all varieties of non-coking coal during the corresponding months of the financial year 2019-20.
In the first five months of the financial year 2021-22 i.e. up to August 2021 (firm import data is available up to August,21), the import of all varieties of non-coking coal has reduced to 70.85 MT, from 84.44 MT during the corresponding months of the financial year 2019-20 representing a decline of about 16.09 per cent.