Parliament Question: Import of Coking and Non-Coking Coal

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4030 ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 IMPORT OF COKING AND NON-COKING COAL

4030. SHRI SASIKANTH SENTHIL:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

(a) whether the country continues to import coking and non-coking coal to meet domestic demand;

(b) if so, the quantity and value of import of coking and non-coking coal during the last three years, year-wise;

(c) whether the Government has assessed the import dependence of domestic industries on coking coal and if so, the details of proportion of coking coal imported to meet the total domestic requirement;

(d) the details of principal countries from which coking and non-coking coal has been imported during the said period; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to reduce dependence on imported coking coal including expansion of domestic coking coal production, beneficiation and washery capacity? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL AND MINES (SHRI SATISH CHANDRA DUBEY)

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

Coal imports are primarily undertaken to meet essential requirements, such as coking coal for the steel industry and high-grade thermal coal, the domestic availability of which is limited due to scarce reserves or non-availability. Apart from this, imports continue in specific cases, including for Imported Coal-Based (ICB) power plants, which are designed to operate on imported coal, and for blending requirements by Domestic Coal-Based (DCB) power plants, wherever technically or operationally necessary.

The quantity and value of import of coking and non-coking coal during the last three years are given

below: (Quantity in Million Tonnes & Value in Million Rupees) Value Value Value Coking Non-Coking Total Year Million Rs. Million Rs. Million Rs.

Coal Coal Import 2023-24

58.81

1330003.62 205.72 1772150.89 264.53 3102154.51 2024-25

57.58

1032104.44 186.05 1463233.35 243.62 2495337.79 2025-26 66.33 1043805.34 180.04 1315729.74 246.37 2359535.08 1(c): Coal is imported to bridge the gap between domestic demand and domestic supply. As per coal import policy, the import of coal has been kept under Open General License (OGL) and consumers of coal are free to import coal from the sources of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duties. Steel Industry requires high-grade coking coal, which is a key raw material for the blast furnace process. The proportion of coking coal imports to the total

domestic coking coal requirement is as under: (In Million Tonnes) Washed Coking Total domestic Coking (%) of Coking Coking Coal Year Coal Domestic Coal requirement Coal Import Import Production 2023-24 58.81 5.40 64.21 91.60% 2024-25 57.58 5.90 63.48 90.71% 2025-26 (prov.) 66.33 5.93 72.26 91.79%

(d): Country-wise details of coking and non-coking coal imports during the last three years are

given in the table below: (in Million Tonnes) 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Country Coking Non- Total Coking Non- Total Coking Non- Total Coking Import Coking Import Coking Import Indonesia 2.10 113.61 115.71 2.07 102.58 104.65 1.89 93.03 94.92 Australia 29.99 14.47 44.46 24.58 8.45 33.03 27.32 8.29 35.61 South Africa 0.00 28.72 28.72 0.00 31.13 31.13 0.00 32.19 32.19 Russia 5.50 17.62 23.12 8.21 15.44 23.65 9.25 18.70 27.95 USA 8.48 13.82 22.30 8.48 11.66 20.14 9.91 13.23 23.14 Singapore 5.39 4.70 10.09 5.70 5.27 10.97 7.17 5.54 12.71 Mozambique 2.24 7.49 9.73 3.43 4.93 8.36 4.91 4.37 9.28 Canada 3.17 0.00 3.17 1.75 0.00 1.75 1.50 0.00 1.50 Switzerland 0.82 2.21 3.03 0.85 1.25 2.09 0.75 0.33 1.08 UAE 0.63 1.61 2.24 2.03 1.18 3.21 3.22 1.76 4.98 Others 0.49 1.47 1.96 0.48 4.16 4.64 0.41 2.6 3.01 Total 58.81 205.72 264.53 57.58 186.05 243.62 66.33 180.04 246.37

(e): The steps taken by the Government to reduce dependence on imported coking coal including expansion of domestic coking coal production, beneficiation and washery capacity are as under: i. The Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) has been increased upto 100% of the normative requirement, in the cases where the ACQ was either reduced to 90% of normative requirement (non-coastal power plants) or where the ACQ was reduced to 70% of normative requirement (coastal power plants).

ii. Vide 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 up to 30 years.

2iii. Vide amendment to the NRS linkage auction policy introduced in 2026, the tenure of the coal linkages to the sub-sector “Production of Syngas leading to Coal Gasification” in the NRS linkage auction has been revised for a period up to 30 years.

iv. Government, in 2022, has decided that to meet the full Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) requirement of all the existing linkage holders of Power Sector, coal shall be made available by the coal companies irrespective of the trigger level and ACQ levels.

v. A new sub-sector ‘Steel using Coking coal through WDO route’ has been created in March, 2024 under the NRS linkage auctions. vi. Coking Coal Mission has been launched to enhance coking coal supply to the Steel Sector to reduce imports of coking coal, wherein 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. 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.

ix. Coal linkages have been allowed for coal washeries under the recently created CoalSETU window under the Non-Regulated Sector linkage auctions.

(II) Further, the steps taken by the coal companies to increase the domestic production of coking coal

and washed coking coal to reduce the dependence on imported coking coal are as under: i. Increase coal production from existing Mines of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and Central Coalfields Limited (CCL).

ii. Coal India Limited (CIL) offered 11 discontinued coking coal mines on a new innovative model of Revenue Sharing with the private sector. iii. Increasing the production by operationalization of new coking coal mines (FY2029-30) with rated capacity of 15 (Million Tonne Per Annum) MTPA.

iv. 10 Coking coal washeries are operational with combined operable capacity of 19.70 MTPA. v. Setting up of 07 number of coking coal washeries by 2029-30, with a capacity of 19.50 MTPA. vi. Monetization of 3 old washeries to enhance washing capacity to the tune of 4.23 MTPA.

vii. Utilization of idle washing capacity of washeries of private players like TATA Steel Limited for beneficiation of coking coal available with CIL. viii. Renovation of 4 old washeries (7.1 MTPA) to improve the washing capacity.

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