Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy on Thursday urged the steel sector to reduce dependence on imported coal and make the required changes in technology.
The import of coal, he suggested, should be reduced in a phased manner. Speaking during the launch of eleventh round of commercial coal mines auction, he also expressed hopes that the coal production target of 1,080 million tonnes (MT) for the current fiscal year would be met.
To increase coal production "we have to together make efforts", he said. So far, he said, 113 coal mines have been put on sale.
"Today the auction process of eleventh round of commercial coal mines has begun and in the coming days coal block auction will continue," he said.
The 27 coal blocks put on sale in the eleventh round are spread across Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh and include fully explored as well as partially explored mines and a coking coal mine.
These mines upon operationalisation will generate annual revenue of Rs 1,446 crore and will provide employment to about 19,000 people.
Rising Coal Imports
In the first two quarters of FY25, India's coal import rose by 7.8 per cent to 140.60 MT. It was 130.34 MT in the corresponding period last year, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce company mjunction services ltd. Against this, country's domestic coal production rose 6 per cent only to 453 MT in the same period, over 428 MT in the year-ago period.
India’s domestic coal production was 997.83 MT in FY24, according to coal ministry data. S&P Global Commodity Insights forecasted that production could rise significantly in 2025, keeping industrial thermal coal imports stable at approximately 206 MT.
(With inputs from PTI.)
