India’s overall import of coal fell 5.83% in August from the same period last year on the back of increased domestic production of the fossil fuel compound and reduced their shipments from overseas, according to government data.

The country imported 104.57 million tonnes (MT) of coal in August, compared to 111.05 MT in the same period last year.

Power sector main contributor

Imports by domestic coal-based (DCB) power plants, that require the carbon-based compound for blending purposes, slumped 35.23% to 3 MT.

However, imports of thermal power plants that run solely on imported coal registered an uptick of about 1% at 18.31 MT.

Overall, coal imports by the power sector slumped about 6.4%.

The share of imported coal in India’s overall consumption basket declined to 19.3% in August this year compared to 21.2% in the same month last year.

Other than the power sector, coking coal, which serves as an important input for the steel industry, also declined about 4.2% during the reported period to 27.3 MT.

India depends on imports to meet 95% of its coking coal requirements. Import requirements are therefore subject to the demand of the steel sector.

Strengthening domestic production

Reflecting on the import dynamics, the Union Coal Ministry held, “The decline in overall coal imports, particularly imports for blending at domestic coal-based power plants, underscores the importance of strengthening domestic production, transportation and supply-chain infrastructure,” adding that imports by imported coal-based power plants and the steel sector reflect their specific fuel and raw material requirements.