13% jump in coal imports, know why the demand is increasing

The Indian government is always attempting to limit coal imports, yet in April 2024, coal imports jumped by 13.2% to 26.1 million tonnes. Because of the blistering heat, the demand for electricity has surged, prompting power firms to raise their coal consumption. Simultaneously, power providers are striking new agreements. This data was obtained from Mjunction Services Limited, a B2B e-commerce company.

Imports of coal totaled 23 million tonnes in April last year. This year's increase in imports has come at a time when Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy has said that India should increase domestic production of fossil fuels to reduce imports. The central government has set a target of stopping imports by increasing domestic coal production by the year 2025-26.

According to data from Mjunction Services, coal and coke imports through ports in April increased by 13.2 percent compared to a year ago. In April, non-coking coal imports accounted for 17.4 million tonnes in total imports. It was 15.1 million tonnes a year ago. At the same time, imports of coking coal increased from 47.7 lakh tonnes to 49.7 lakh tonnes.

Mjunction Services MD and CEO Vinay Verma said, 'Imports have increased in terms of quantity. Due to storage before the monsoon, strong demand for coal from both power and non-regulated sectors may continue.''

Coal imports in April were also 8.93 percent higher than in March. In March, it was a little over 2.39 crore tonnes. Due to the softening of sea freight prices, the country's coal imports grew by 7.7 percent to 26.82 crore tonnes in the last financial year 2023-24. Whereas in 2022-23, this figure was 24.90 crore tonnes.