Coal Import in India (Coking and Non-Coking)
Year-wise import of coking and non-coking coal in India from 2010-11.
Coal Import (MT)
| Year | Coking | Non-Coking | Total |
| 2010-11 | 19.484 | 49.434 | 68.918 |
| 2011-12 | 31.801 | 71.052 | 102.853 |
| 2012-13 | 35.557 | 110.228 | 145.785 |
| 2013-14 | 36.872 | 129.985 | 166.857 |
| 2014-15 | 43.715 | 174.068 | 217.783 |
| 2015-16 | 44.561 | 159.388 | 203.949 |
| 2016-17 | 41.644 | 149.309 | 190.953 |
| 2017-18 | 47.003 | 161.245 | 208.249 |
| 2018-19 | 51.838 | 183.510 | 235.348 |
| 2019-20 | 51.833 | 196.704 | 248.537 |
| 2020-21 | 164.05 | 215.25 | |
| 2021-22 | 151.77 | 208.93 |
The focus of the Government is on increasing domestic production of coal through allocation of more coal blocks, pursuing with State Government for assistance in land acquisition and coordinated efforts with Railways for movement of coal.
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 requirement and commercial consideration. Government of India does not interfere in this matter.
Coal is imported by various industries such as Power sector, Steel Industry, Cement Industry, Paper & Pulp industry, Aluminium Industry, etc. Power sector imports coal for imported coal-based (ICB) power plants which are so designed and also for domestic coal-based power plants for blending purpose.
Steps taken by the Government to make the country self-sufficient in the production of coal are:
- Regular reviews by Ministry of Coal to expedite the development of coal blocks.
- Enactment of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 for enabling captive mines owners (other than atomic minerals) to sell up to 50% of their annual mineral (including coal) production in the open market after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government on payment of such additional amount.
- Single Window Clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalization of coal mines.
- Project Monitoring Unit for hand-holding of coal block allottees for obtaining various approvals / clearances for early operationalization of coal mines.
- Auction of commercial mining on revenue sharing basis launched in 2020. Under commercial mining scheme, rebate of 50 % on final offer would be allowed for the quantity of coal produced earlier than scheduled date of production. Also, incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction (rebate of 50 % on final offer) have been granted.
- Coal India Limited is adopting Mass Production Technologies (MPT) in its Underground (UG) mines, mainly Continuous Miners (CMs), wherever feasible. Coal India Limited has also envisaged working large numbers of Highwalls (HW) mines in view of the availability of Abandoned / Discontinued mines. Coal India Limited is also planning large capacity UG mines wherever feasible.
- In its Opencast (OC) mines, Coal India Limited already has State-of-the-Art technology in its high capacity Excavators, Dumpers and Surface Miners. Digitization is being tried on pilot scale in 7 of its mega mines and shall be replicated further.
- SCCL has planned to produce 75 MT by 2023-24 from the present level of 67 MT. Regular liasioning is being undertaken for grounding of new projects. In addition, progress of activities of new projects and operations of existing projects is being regularly monitored.