Trade: Coal and Lignite
Despite the availability of huge resources of coal in the country, coal is being imported to bridge the gap between domestic demand and domestic supply. India is the second largest importer of coal in the World
Import dependency of India is owing to various factors, including smaller and lower quality reserves of coking coal in India, less availability of high GCV coal, challenges in developing new coal mines related to land acquisition, delay on obtaining statutory clearance etc. and logistics constraints for evacuation
As per the current import policy, coal is kept under Open General License (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty
Bulk of the coal in the country is imported by the Non-Regulated Sector (NRS)
Much of the non-coking coal is imported from Indonesia and South Africa and coking coal from Australia
For 2023-24, India`s gross coal imports were 264.5 million tons, and there were small exports of 1.5 million tons, principally to neighbouring Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, leading to net imports of 263 million tons
Lignite is domestically produced and consumed, there is a very small trade in Lignite
| Year | Coal Gross Imports MMTPA | Coal Exports MMTPA | Coal Net Imports MMTPA | Lignite Gross Imports MMTPA | Lignite Exports MMTPA | Lignite Net Imports MMTPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 264.5 | 1.5 | 263.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| 2022-23 | 237.7 | 1.2 | 236.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | -0.3 |
| 2021-22 | 208.6 | 1.3 | 207.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2020-21 | 215.3 | 2.9 | 212.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| 2019-20 | 248.5 | 1.0 | 247.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 2018-19 | 235.3 | 1.3 | 234.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| 2017-18 | 208.2 | 1.5 | 206.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2016-17 | 191.0 | 1.8 | 189.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2015-16 | 203.9 | 1.6 | 202.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2014-15 | 217.8 | 1.2 | 216.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2013-14 | 166.9 | 2.2 | 164.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2012-13 | 145.8 | 2.4 | 143.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| 2011-12 | 102.9 | 2.0 | 100.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Ministry of Coal has taken several efforts to reduce India's dependency on coal imports
Read:
Efforts to Reduce Coal Import Dependency