Lok Sabha Question No. 2755 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-07
Subject: New Regulations for Coal Imports
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Shri Eswarasamy K

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.2755 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2024

## New Regulations for Coal Import

## 2755.  SHRI ESWARASAMY K:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the current status of coal imports in the country;
- (b) whether the Government has introduced any new policies or regulations regarding coal imports during the past year and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Union  Government  is  allowing  State Governments to directly import coal, rather than relying on Coal India Limited and other centralized sources and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  details  of  the  potential  benefits  and  drawbacks  of  such  a  policy change;
- (e) whether coal shortages and supply chain issues affected power generation and electricity availability across different States in India over the past 1224 months and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to address  these  challenges  at  the state level?

## Answer

## MINISTER OF COAL AND MINES (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a): The detail of coal import during last three years, and current year are given below: -

## (in Million Tonnes)

| Year                  |   Coking Coal |   Non-Coking Coal |   Total Import |
|-----------------------|---------------|-------------------|----------------|
| 2021-22               |         57.12 |            151.51 |         208.63 |
| 2022-23               |         56.05 |            181.62 |         237.67 |
| 2023-24               |         58.12 |            202.88 |         261    |
| 2024-25 upto May 2024 |         10.46 |             36.86 |          47.32 |

(b)to(d): As per the existing import policy, coal is kept under the Open General License (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice  as  per  their  contractual  agreement  on  payment  of  applicable  duty. Most of the requirement of coal in the country is met through indigenous production.

(e) There is no coal shortage in the country.  Most of the requirement of coal in the country is met through indigenous coal production and supply . The focus of the Government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and to  eliminate  non-essential  import  of  coal  in  the  country.  The  all-India domestic coal production in the year 2023-2024 was 997.828 Million Tonne (MT) (Provisional) in comparison to 893.191 MT in the year 2022-2023 with the growth of about 11.71 %.

(ii )  In FY 2023-24, coal supply was 973.015 MT (provisional) in comparison to 877.369 MT in FY 2022-23, with a growth of 10.9%. During the same year, coal supply to Power sector was 807.2 MT (provisional) in comparison to 744.6 MT in FY 2022-23, with a growth of 8.4%. The coal stock available at the power plants as on 31.07.2024 is about 45.8 MT, which is sufficient for about 19 days.

(f): To address the issues of coal supplies to Power Sector, an lnter-Ministerial Sub Group comprising of representatives from Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal,  Ministry  of  Railways,  Central  Electricity  Authority  (CEA),  Coal  lndia Limited (ClL) and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) meet regularly to take various operational decisions to enhance supply of coal to Thermal Power Plants as well as for meeting any contingent situations relating to Power Sector including to alleviate critical coal stock position in power plants. In addition to this, an Inter-Ministerial Committee (lMC) has been constituted comprising  of Chairman,  Railway  Board;  Secretary, Ministry of Coal; Secretary, Ministry of  Environment, Forest  and  Climate  Change  and Secretary,  Ministry  of  Power;  to  monitor  augmentation  of  coal  supply  and power generation capacity. Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Chairperson, CEA are co-opted as Special invitees as and when required by the lMC.

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