Demand increased in power sector, but India’s coal import decreased in August

The country’s coal imports declined by 2.7 per cent to 152 million tonnes in August this year. This decline in imports has been registered amid the coal crisis in the country’s power plants. In the same month a year ago, India imported 15.6 million tonnes of coal. According to mjunction services data, imports stood at 152 million tonnes in August. This is 2.7 percent less as compared to August 2020.

Vinay Verma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of mjunction said that imports have come down due to the increase in the prices of coal coming by sea route. He said that apart from the steps taken by the domestic companies to substitute imports, the import of coal has also come down. However, at the same time, he said that the demand for coal in the power sector has increased. The share of non-coking coal in total imports stood at 90.8 lakh tonnes in August. It was 103 million tonnes in August last year. At the same time, the import of coking coal reached 43.7 lakh tonnes from 31.7 lakh tonnes.

The import of coal in August from major and non-major ports of the country was 6.71 per cent less than that of July. Imports in July stood at 16.90 million tonnes. In the first five months of the current financial year, April-August, coal imports stood at 92.4 million tonnes. This is an increase of 21.27 per cent as compared to 7.62 crore in the same period of the previous financial year.

Import of non-coking coal stood at 60.8 million tonnes during April-August. This was 51.2 million tonnes in the same period last year. Similarly, coking coal imports rose to 22.1 million tonnes during the same period, from 143 million tonnes in the same period of the previous fiscal.