Coal Import Fell To 209 Million Tonnes As Output Grew In 2021-22

India's coal import declined to 209 million tonnes in the financial year ended March 2022 as against 248 million tonnes recorded in 2019-20, as per the Government data released on Thursday.

Coal imports, which had reached a peak of 248 million tonnes in 2019-20, declined continuously during the next two years to 215 million tonnes in 2020-21 and further to 209 million tonnes in 2021-22, Coal Ministry said in a statement.

The decline in coal imports during 2021-22 is largely due to a decrease in imports by the power sector which came down from 45 million tonnes in 2020-21 to 27 million tonnes in 2021-22, registering a decline of around 40 per cent.

At the same time, all India coal production has increased from 716 million tonnes in 2020-21 to 777 million tonnes in 2021-22 resulting in an increase of 61 million tonnes. Therefore, despite a steep rise in actual demand for coal from 906 million tonnes in 2020-21 to 1,027 million tonnes in 2021-22, coal imports could be contained due to increased domestic dispatch from 691 million tonnes in 2020-21 to 818 million tonnes in 2021-22.