Coal demand in India to reach 1.5 billion tonnes by 2029-2030

Currently, there is a gap between demand and supply. 

The Indian government said it has rolled out initiatives to boost local production of coal and to eliminate non-essential importation as it sees demand to increase to about 1.5 billion tonnes by 2029 to 2030.

According to the Ministry of Coal, some of the programmes are the Single Window Clearance, amendment of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 to allow captive mines to sell up to 50% of their annual production after meeting the requirement of the end use plants, production through Mine Development Operator mode, increasing use of mass production technologies, new projects and expansion of existing projects, and auction of coal blocks to private companies/PSUs for commercial mining. 

The government has also allowed 100% foreign direct investment for commercial mining. State-owned Coal India Limited has also deployed mass production technology in its mines to boost its production. 

Whilst most of India’s coal requirements are met through domestic production, latest data showed there is a gap between supply and demand.

The ministry said actual demand increased 11% to 1233.86 million tonnes in fiscal year (FY) 2023-2024 from 1115.04 million tonnes in FY 2022-2023. 

Meanwhile, domestic coal production increased 11.65% to reach 997.26 million tonnes in FY 2023-2024 from 893.19 million tonnes in FY 2022-2023. Per state, Jharkhand had the biggest production in the previous fiscal year at 40.21 million tonnes. 

“As per the current import policy, coal is kept under open general Licence (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty,” the ministry noted.