India's coal imports increased by 5.7 per cent to 75.26 million tonne (MT) in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, up from 71.16 MT during the same period of the previous fiscal year. In June, coal imports also saw a rise of 6.59 per cent, reaching 22.97 MT compared to 21.55 MT in June of the previous fiscal year. This data was compiled by mjunction services, a B2B e-commerce platform formed through a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL.

Vinaya Varma, MD and CEO of mjunction, noted that due to the surplus coal available and the slowdown in industrial activity during the monsoon season, the demand for imports is expected to remain subdued in the coming months.

In June 2024, non-coking coal imports amounted to 14.19 MT, surpassing the 13.29 MT imported in June of the previous year. Coking coal imports were 5.45 MT, compared to 5.33 MT imported in June 2023.

From April to June 2024, non-coking coal imports totalled 49.12 MT, an increase from 46.53 MT imported in the same period the previous year. Coking coal imports for the same period stood at 15.45 MT, up from 15.20 MT recorded during April-June 2023.

For the fiscal year 2024 (FY24), India's coal imports rose by 7.7 per cent to 268.24 million tonnes, driven by the softness in seaborne prices and the anticipated rise in power demand during the summer. The country's coal imports were 249.06 MT in FY23.

Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy had previously stated that India should focus on increasing domestic fossil fuel production and reducing coal imports. Domestic coal production rose by 11.71 per cent to 997.828 MT in 2023-24, compared to 893.191 MT in 2022-23.