Parliament Question: Decline in Coal Import

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 589 ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 DECLINE IN COAL IMPORT

589. SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ALIAS VIJAY VASANTH:

SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has noted decline in coal imports for thermal power plants and if so, the details thereof, year-wise and if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken to ensure uninterrupted coal supply;

(b) whether reduction in coal imports has impacted power generation capacity and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with measures taken to maintain demand-supply balance;

(c) whether domestic coal production is sufficient to meet thermal plant requirements and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken to augment domestic supply;

(d) whether any thermal power plant faced shutdown due to coal shortage and if so, the details thereof, plant-wise and if not, the reasons therefor along with the corrective steps taken in this regard; and

(e) whether the Government has assessed impact of reduced imports on peak power demand and if so, the details of findings thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government to prevent shortages? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL AND MINES (SHRI SATISH CHANDRA DUBEY)

(a): Coal imported by the power plants in the country during last three years is as under: (in Million Tonnes) Domestic Coal Imported Coal Based Total Coal imported by Period Based Plants Plants (ICB) power plants

(DCB) 2023-24 23.9 41.8 65.7 2024-25 14.0 48.5 62.5 2025-26 6.8 38.6 45.4 1From the above table, it may be seen that coal imports by thermal power plants declined from

65.7 million tones in 2023-24 to 45.4 million tones in 2025-26, thereby recording a decline of

30.9 percent during the period.

Following steps are being taken to ensure uninterrupted coal supply to power plants:- i. An Inter-Ministerial Sub-Group comprising of representatives from Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Railways, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Coal India Limited (CIL) 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.

ii. An Inter-ministerial Secretary-level meeting, comprising Secretary (Power), Secretary

(Coal), and Chairman Railway Board, is held regularly to monitor coal supply to the power plants.

(b) & (e): The details of power requirement, power supplied and gap during the last three years and the financial year 2026-27 (up to June) is as below: (in Million Units) Power Requirement Power Supplied Power Supply Gap Financial Year

(MU) (MU) (%) 2023-24 16,26,132 16,22,020 0.3 2024-25 16,93,959 16,92,369 0.1 2025-26 17,07,493 17,06,985 0.0 2026-27 (Upto Jun, 4,83,117 4,82,435 0.1

2026)* (*The data for the month of June 2026 is provisional.) It may be noted that the power supplied has broadly remained commensurate with the power requirement of the country, and reduction in coal imports has not adversely impacted power generation capacity.

The following measures have been taken to ensure uninterrupted and reliable electricity supply

across the country: i. The Central Government supplements efforts of the State Governments by establishing power plants through Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) and making power available to the various States/ UTs.

ii. Proactive monitoring of generation projects under construction to facilitate commensurate capacity addition. iii. Hydro-based generation is being scheduled in a manner so as to conserve water for meeting demand during peak period.

iv. Gas-based power plants of NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) as well as other generators are scheduled for power supply during high demand period. v. GENCOs (Power Generating Companies) have been advised to generate and maintain full availability on daily basis excluding the period of planned maintenance or forced outage.

vi. Planned maintenance of generating units is being minimized during period of high demand.

(c) : Most of the requirement of coal in the country is met through indigenous coal production.

Import of coal is resorted to in case of essential grades of coal such as coking coal (by steel 2industry) and higher grade non-coking coal as their domestic production is limited due to scarce reserves or non-availability.

Power plants import coal primarily (i) due to requirement of Imported Coal Based (ICB) power plants which are specially designed to use high-grade imported coal, and (ii) for blending purpose by Domestic Coal Based (DCB) power plants.

The focus of the Government is on increasing domestic production of coal to meet the energy requirement of the country. The all-India domestic coal production in the year 2024-25 was

1047.67 Million Tonnes (MT) in comparison to 997.83 MT in the year 2023-24 with the growth of about 5%. In FY 2025-26, the country has produced 1040.08 MT (Prov.) of coal. Thus, domestic coal production has crossed 1 billion tonnes in two consecutive years.

(d): No Sir. There is no coal shortage at the power plants in the country. The coal stock available at domestic coal-based power plants in the country is sufficient to run these plants at 85% PLF (Plant Load Factor) for about 14 days at present rate of consumption. Further, a coal stock of approximately 151.96 million tonnes (MT) was available at mine end of CIL & Others as on

31.03.2026. **** 3