India imported 131.92 million tonne of coal worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore in April-September period of ongoing financial year. In FY22, the country’s coal import of 208.93 million tonne (MT) was worth Rs 2,28,741.8 crore, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The coal import was 215.25 MT in FY21, 248.54 MT ( FY20), 235.35 MT (FY19) and 208.25 MT (FY18), the minister said. Import of coal in India consists mainly of coking coal and high grade coal, whose prices are normally higher than thermal coal.
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The average landed price per tonne of imported coal up to September of current financial year was Rs 19,324.79 while the average notified price per tonne (ex-colliery) of domestic coal was Rs 2,662.97 in the same period.
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India imports coking coal and other high gross calorific value (GCV) coal as domestic production is limited due to either scarce reserves or non-availability. Imported coal based (ICB) power plants in the coastal region import coal as they are so designed. Some end-users also import coal on commercial and logistic considerations as coal is under open general licence system.
