Focus on coal import (India)

India will have to continue depending on imported coal even as the government is looking to ramp up local production.

In a report, rating agency Icra said it expected the country's dependence on imported coal to remain high in the near to medium term and gradually moderate thereafter. This is on account of the challenges faced in developing coal mines as well as the risks of delay in increasing output by companies allotted schedule II and schedule III mines.

Data from online trader mjunction show that imports in the first six months of 2015 rose 12 per cent to 59.41 million tonnes (mt) over the year-ago period. Coking coal imports during the period increased to 10.50mt from 9.38mt, while non-coking coal import marginally fell to 44.67mt from 44.94mt in the corresponding period a year ago.

According to mjunction, the import of non-coking coal had remained stagnant on account of a less-than-expected growth in demand from sectors such as power and cement. Further, there was also ample availability of coal from domestic sources because of higher production by Coal India.

In coking coal, there was a marginal rise in domestic production.

Viresh Oberoi, managing director and CEO of mjunction, said the trend in the first six months of 2015 would continue in the later half of the year.

Coal secretary Anil Swarup, however, said Coal India had been able to ramp up production by addressing the challenges faced in land acquisition and environment clearance. He also expressed hope that the coal block allottees would be able to increase output soon, helping to reach closer to the 1.5-billion-tonne production target set for 2020.