Domestic coal supply will be adequate to meet power demand in FY23: Coal Ministry

• Import of all grades of non-coking coal has come down to 125.611 MT during the period April to January 2022 from 163.845 MT during the corresponding months of FY20
• The domestic coal-based power generation upto January 2022 is 815.72 BU with an increase of 12.55 percent over 724.746 BU recorded during the corresponding period of FY20

New Delhi: With considerable increase in domestic coal production, India has achieved significant reduction in import of coal despite surge in power demand and it is expected that domestic thermal coal supply will be adequate to meet the power sector demand in FY23, said the Ministry of Coal in a statement on Saturday. Import of all grades of non-coking coal has come down to 125.611 Million Tonnes (MT) during the period April to January 2022 from 163.845 MT during the corresponding months of FY20, a decline of about 23.33 percent, said the ministry. The domestic coal-based power generation upto January 2022 is 815.72 BU (Billion Units) with an increase of 12.55 percent over 724.746 BU recorded during the corresponding period of FY20. 

Imported coal-based power generation which was 78.07 BU during April to January 2020 has reduced by 55 percent to 35.13 BU during the corresponding months of FY22.

Import of non-coking coal went down by 61% in Apr-Jan FY22

The import of non-coking coal primarily used in power sector has decreased by 60.87 percent from 58.09 MT to 22.73 MT upto January 22 in comparison to the same period of FY20. The overall import of coal has also reduced to 173.20 MT in the period from April to January 2022 as compared to 207.235 MT during the corresponding period of FY20, a decrease of about 16.42 percent which has resulted in significant savings of forex reserves this year, especially when the coal prices are at a high level in the international market. All efforts are on to further enhance domestic coal production as the availability of additional coal will aid in import-substitution.

India is the world's third largest energy consuming country and electricity demand grows by 4.7 percent each year. To reduce the dependence on import of coal, several reforms have been undertaken by the Ministry of Coal. The ministry has amended the Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 1960 under MMDR (Amendment) Act, 2021 to allow the lessee of captive mines to sell coal or lignite up to 50 percent of the total excess production after meeting the requirements of the end-use plant. With this amendment, the ministry has paved the way for releasing of additional coal in the market by greater utilisation of mining capacities of captive coal blocks. This has led to an increase in production of coal by 37.85 percent from 51.73 MT upto Jan 2020 to 71.31 MT during the corresponding period of FY 22. This has led to an overall increase in domestic production of coal by 8.38 percent to 601.97 MT upto January 22 as compared to 555.41 MT in the corresponding months of FY 20, said the Ministry of Coal.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News center that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)