Lok Sabha Question No. 783 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Demand-Supply Gap of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Smt. Geniben Nagaji Thakor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 783

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026

## DEMAND-SUPPLY GAP OF COAL

783. SMT. GENIBEN NAGAJI THAKOR:

Will the Minister of COAL pleased to state:

- a. whether the Government has made a State-wise assessment of the current demand-supply gap of coal in the country;
- b. if so, the details thereof;
- c. whether any steps are being taken to increase domestic coal production to reduce dependence on imports; and
- d. if so, the details of the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a)&(b): The state-wise coal demand has not been assessed by the Ministry. However, the overall coal demand during last three years are given below: -

| (in Million Tonnes)     |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |   2024-25 |
|-------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Total Demand            |   1115.04 |   1237.54 |   1268.95 |
| Domestic Supply         |    877.37 |    973.01 |   1025.33 |
| Gap fulfilled by Import |    237.67 |    264.53 |    243.62 |

(c)&(d): The steps taken by the Government to increase the coal production in the country are as under:

- i. Regular reviews by Ministry of Coal to expedite the development of coal blocks.
- ii. Enactment  of  Mines  and  Minerals  (Development  and  Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 [MMDR Act] for enabling captive mines owners (other than atomic minerals) to sell up to 50% of their annual mineral (including  coal)  production  in  the  open  market  after  meeting  the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine in such manner
3. as may be prescribed by the Central Government on payment of such additional amount.
- iii. Single  Window  Clearance  portal  for  the  coal  sector  to  speed  up  the operationalization of coal mines.
- iv. Project Management Unit (PMU) for hand-holding of coal block allottees for obtaining various approvals / clearances for early operationalization of coal mines.
- v. Auction of commercial mining on revenue sharing basis launched in 2020. Under commercial mining scheme, rebate of 50 % on final offer has  been  allowed  for  the  quantity  of  coal  produced  earlier  than scheduled date of production. Further, incentives on coal gasification or liquefaction (rebate of 50 % on final offer) have been granted.
- vi. Terms and conditions of commercial coal mining are very liberal with no  restriction  on  utilization  of  coal,  allowing  new  companies  to participate in the bidding process, reduced upfront amount, adjustment  of  upfront  amount  against  monthly  payment,  liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalize the coal mines, transparent bidding process, 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route and revenue sharing model based on the National Coal Index.

## (II)     The steps taken by the Government to reduce coal import dependency are as under:

- i. Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) has been increased upto 100% of the normative requirement, in cases where ACQ was either reduced to 90% of normative requirement (non-coastal power plants) or where ACQ was reduced to 70% of normative requirement (coastal power plants). Increase in ACQ would result in more domestic coal supplies, thereby, reducing import dependency.
- ii. Vide the amendment to the Non-Regulated Sector (NRS) linkage auction policy introduced in 2020, the tenure of coking coal linkages in the NRS linkage auction has been revised for a period upto 30 years. Increase in tenure of coking coal linkages in the NRS linkage auction for a period upto 30 years is expected to have a positive impact towards coal imports substitution.
- iii. Government has decided in 2022 that the coal to meet the full Power Purchase  Agreement  (PPA)  requirement  of  all  the  existing  linkage holders of Power Sector shall be made available by the coal companies irrespective  of  the  trigger  level  and  ACQ  levels.  This  decision  of  the Government of meeting the full PPA requirement of the linkage holders of the Power Sector shall reduce the dependence on the imports.
- iv. An Inter - Ministerial Committee (IMC) was constituted in the Ministry of Coal on 29.05.2020 for the purpose of coal import substitution. On directions  of  IMC,  an  Import  Data  System  has  been  developed  by Ministry of Coal to enable the Ministry to track import of coal. As per Foreign  Trade  Policy  governing  import  of  goods,  coal  is  freely  1 importable without any restrictions. However, with effect from December, 2020, the same has been revised from 'Free' to 'Free subject
5. to  compulsory registration in Coal Import Monitoring System (CIMS) Portal'. Efforts are being made on a conti nuous basis to ensure more domestic supplies of coal. Thus, the entire substitutable imported coal is expected to be met by the country and no import, other than the very essential should happen. A Strategy Paper on Coal Import Substitution has been released.
- v. A new subsector 'Steel using Coking coal through WDO route' has been created in March, 2024 under the NRS linkage auctions which shall lead  to  increase  in  the  domestic  coking  coal  consumption  and  shall increase the availability of washed coking coal in the country, thereby, reducing coking coal imports.
- vi. Coking Coal Mission has been launched to enhance coking coal supply to  the  Steel  Sector  to  reduce  imports  of  coking  coal.  Initiatives  have been taken to enhance coking coal production.
- vii. Imported  Coal  Based  (ICB)  Plants  have  been  allowed  to  secure  coal under the Revised SHAKTI Policy, 2025. The coal availability for ICB Plants  under  the  Revised  SHAKTI  Policy  is  expected  to  reduce  the dependence of these ICB plants on the imported coal.
- viii. Existing  Fuel  Supply  Agreement  (FSA)  holders  have  been  allowed  to secure  coal  under  the  Revised  SHAKTI  Policy,  2025  after  procuring 100% of the ACQ coal under existing FSA. Coal availability beyond the ACQ to the existing FSA holders will benefit the power producers to meet the full requirement of the power plants.

## (III)    In addition to the above, coal companies have also taken the following steps to increase domestic coal production:

- i. Coal India Limited (CIL) has adopted a number of measures to increase coal production. In its' Underground (UG) mines, CIL is adopting new and modern technologies like Mass Production Technologies (MPT) with the  deployment  of  Continuous  Miners  (CMs),  Longwall  (LW)  and Highwall  (HW)  wherever  feasible.  In  its  Opencast  (OC)  mines,  CIL already has State-of-the-Art technology in its high 2 capacity Excavators  and  Dumpers.  Standardization  of  Heavy  Earth  Moving Machinery (HEMM) has been done in opencast mines. Surface Miners are  also  deployed  in  opencast  mines  for  efficient  and  eco-friendly mining. Digital transformation has been implemented on pilot scale in 7 of its mega mines.
- ii. Regular liaison is being undertaken by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) for expediting the grant of permissions and clearances for grounding of new projects and operation of existing projects. SCCL has initiated action for developing infrastructure for evacuation of coal like  Coal  Handling  Plants  (CHPs),  Crushers,  Mobile  Crushers,  Preweigh-bins etc.

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