Coal import by power sector in Apr-Jun period 14% less than last year, says govt

New Delhi: The import of coal by the country’s power sector in the April-June quarter was 14 percent less than the amount imported in the same period last fiscal, Parliament was informed on Friday. “In 2018-19 (up to 30 June, 2018), coal import by the power sector is 14 percent less than the import in the corresponding period of last year,” Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said in a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. The country’s coal import has fallen from 217.7 million tonnes (MT) in 2014-15 to 190.9 MT in 2016-17. During 2017-18, coal imports increased to 208.27 MT due to increase in demand by consuming sectors. [caption id=“attachment_4191451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “While there is a slight increase in import due to the enhanced domestic coal supply to power plants, coal import by power plants has reduced from 80.58 MT in 2015-16 to 56.41 MT in 2017-18,” the minister said. The country’s raw coal output increased from 565.77 MT in 2013-14 to 676.48 MT in 2017-18. “Absolute increase in all-India coal production from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (four years) is 110.71 MT as compared to increase of coal production of 33.73 MT from 2009-10 to 2013-14 (four years),” the minister said. Coal India Limited (CIL) also increased its production from 462.41 MT in 2013-14 to 567.36 MT in 2017-18. In the first four months of the ongoing fiscal, coal production of CIL was 177.43 MT with a growth rate of 14.1 percent over the corresponding period of previous year. The price of imported coal depends upon various factors such as country of origin, gross calorific value of coal, moisture content, ash content, ocean freight and distance of plant from port.