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India's coal imports rose by nearly a third to a record 135 million tonnes in 2012-13, data from government sources showed, and are set to grow further as the world's third-biggest producer struggles to raise domestic supplies.
A drop in global coal prices, however, softened the impact of the surging imports on India's finances, with the country forking out about $15.5 billion for the commodity in the year ended March 31, a less than one per cent rise from the previous year, the data obtained by Reuters showed.
India, which does not release coal import data on a regular basis, places no restrictions on the imports of the commodity, which are brought into the country by traders and consumers.
Utilities such as Adani Power, Tata Power, JSW Energy and state-run NTPC, are among the biggest consumers of imported coal. Despite its abundant reserves of about 286 billion tonnes, the world's fifth-largest according to BP PLC, coal production in India has failed to keep pace with demand from utilities for several years now, leading to chronic power shortages that have crimped economic growth. More than half of the country's 223.3 gigawatts (Gw) installed capacity is produced from coal, according to the Central Electricity Authority.
India's total coal imports, which include coke and briquettes, apart from thermal and coking coal, were 105 million tonnes in 2011-12. The latest numbers mean imports have increased five-fold over the past decade.
Power growth plan
Imports of thermal coal jumped three-quarters to 97.23 million tonnes in the financial year through March, while those of coking coal, used in making steel, rose 1.2 per cent from a year earlier to 32.2 million tonnes, the data showed. Coal traders said they expect thermal coal shipments to rise further to 115 -120 million tonnes in the year to March 2014 on growing demand. India plans to add generation capacity of 88.54 Gw in the five years to end-March 2017, compared with almost 55 Gw in the previous five-year period.
