Lok Sabha Question No. 2739 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Demand and Supply of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Janardan Singh Sigriwal, Nishikant  Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2739 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.07.2019

## Demand and Supply of Coal

2739. SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL: DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of demand and supply of coal in the country;
- (b) whether there is huge gap between demand and supply of coal in the country and domestic supply of coal is facing shortfall;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(d) whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  tackle  the  situation  and discourage imports in this regard; and

- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF  PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) to (c): Demand of coal is higher than the current level of supply of coal in  country.  During  the  year  2018-19,  as  against  a  total  actual  demand  of coal  of  969.46  MT,  the  domestic  supply  was  734.23  MT  (Provisional)  and coal import was 235.24 MT (Provisional). Coal is imported to bridge the gap between domestic demand and domestic supply. As per coal import policy, the  import  of  coal  has  been  kept  under  Open  General  License  (OGL)  and users are free to import coal from the sources of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty. It may be mentioned that in  India,  the  supply  of  high  quality  coal  (low-ash  coal)/Coking  coal  is limited. Therefore, to bridge this demand-supply gap, there is no option but to  resort  to  import  of  low-ash  coal.  Superior  quality  non-coking  coal  is imported mainly by imported coal based power plants and other industrial users  viz.,  paper,  sponge  iron,  cements  and  captive  power  plants,  on consideration of transport logistics, commercial prudence, export entitlements and inadequate availability of such superior coal from indigenous sources.

(d) to (e): There  has  been  a  consistent  effort  to  increase  domestic  coal production.  The  all  India  raw  coal  production  has  increased  from  565.77 MT in 2013-14 to 730.35 MT (Provisional) in 2018-19. Absolute increase in all  India  coal  production  from  2013-14  to  2018-19  is  164.58  MT  as compared to an increase of coal production of 73.01 MT between 2008-09 and 2013-14. During the current year 2019-20 (April-Jun 2019), all India coal production was 169.09 MT with a growth rate of 2.4%.

In order to augment supply, a total of 84 coal blocks has been allotted under Coal Mines (Special Provision Act, 2015) so far.

Further,  the  focus  of  the  Government  is  on  increasing  the  domestic production  of  coal  which  includes  pursuing  with  State  Government  for assistance  in  land  acquisition  and  coordinated  efforts  with  Railways  for movement of coal.

In addition, to maximize the use of indigenous coal, the following steps are taken/being taken for promotion of import substitution through the following steps:

-  Source rationalization with part supply from higher grade coal sources.
-  More  coal  from  various  sources  including  higher  grade  were offered through various types of e-auction schemes particularly special forward e-auction for power consumers, not having Fuel supply Agreement (FSA) with CIL sources.
-  The provisions of SHAKTI policy of the Government of India for meeting the demand of various categories of power utilities are being implemented.
-  Supply of additional coal to power plants to meet the shortfall within the Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ).
-  Implementation of Linkage auction for non-regulated sectors
-  Spot E-auction - For any Indian buyer (consumers & Traders) suitable for short-term planning
-  Exclusive E-auction -- exclusively for the non-power consumers (including Captive Power Plant (CPPs)) suitable for medium term planning.
-  Streamlining environment clearances &  forestry clearances process to expedite operationalization of coal blocks.

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