Coal India's export plans now in cold storage over domestic demand

Coal India’s (CIL’s) plans to export coal to SAARC countries has been put on the back-burner as the state-owned miner is facing a steep challenge to supply adequate coal to domestic power plants.

“Some importers from Nepal have approached us to open a permanent export channel there and we are in talks with them,” a senior CIL official said.

However, keeping the coal shortage in mind, CIL has decided to first cater to the domestic power, steel, cement, and ancillary sectors and would thereafter consider opening a “serious export channel for SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)”.

“The first