Piyush Goyal, the Minister of State for Coal, informed the Parliament today that coal imports in India were valued at more than INR one lakh crore in FY17.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Goyal said that 190.95 MnT of coal, valued at INR 1,00,231.3 crore, was imported in the country in the last fiscal.
The minister also said that coal imports in: FY16 were at 203.9 MnT, valued at INR 86,033.8 crore; FY15 were at 217.7 MnT, valued at INR 1, 04,506.6 crore; and FY14 were at 166.8 MnT, valued at INR 92,329 crore.
He also revealed that domestic coal production in the country is lower than the demand. Highlighting the figures of the last fiscal, Goyal said that demand for coal in FY17 in India was at 838.6 MnT, while, the domestic supply was lower at 647.7 MnT.
He said that imports will continue to take place as the power plants designed to use imported coal will have to import. Due to the lower availability of low ash coal in the country, demand for this type of coal will have to be catered through imports, Goyal further said.
Leave a Reply