India imports coal worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore in April-September FY23

India imported 131.92 million tonne of coal worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore in April-September period of ongoing financial year.

In FY22, the country's coal import of 208.93 million tonne (MT) was worth Rs 2,28,741.8 crore, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The coal import was 215.25 MT in FY21, 248.54 MT ( FY20), 235.35 MT (FY19) and 208.25 MT (FY18), the minister said.

Import of coal in India consists mainly of coking coal and high grade coal, whose prices are normally higher than thermal coal.

The average landed price per tonne of imported coal up to September of current financial year was Rs 19,324.79 while the average notified price per tonne (ex-colliery) of domestic coal was Rs 2,662.97 in the same period.

India imports coking coal and other high gross calorific value (GCV) coal as domestic production is limited due to either scarce reserves or non-availability.

Imported coal based (ICB) power plants in the coastal region import coal as they are so designed. Some end-users also import coal on commercial and logistic considerations as coal is under open general licence system.