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India’s Coal Output Surged in H1
India’s coal production from captive and commercial mines surged by 32% over the first half of this financial year, the country’s coal ministry said, with the total reaching 79.7 million tons.
Captive and commercial coal production in September alone also rose by 32%, the ministry reported, from 10.4 million tons in September 2023, to 13.74 million tons last month. India’s financial year begins in April.
India is the second-largest coal consumer of coal in the world and a sizeable producer as it seeks to satisfy more of its demand for the energy commodity with domestic production as demand keeps growing at a healthy pace.
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year ending March 2024, India’s total coal production rose by 11.65% to 997.25 million tons, according to data from the Ministry of Coal. The above figures suggest that this fiscal year will also see considerable production growth despite climate pledges.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources that India aimed to add as much as 15.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power capacity this year, the most in nearly a decade. Coal is the biggest source of energy on the subcontinent, accounting for some 70% of the energy mix, even as the government works to expand wind and solar capacity.
In the first quarter of the year, coal consumption for power generation surged to a record high amid a heatwave and droughts that reduced hydropower generation.
As a result of efforts to boost domestic supply, in July the Indian Ministry of Coal said that the country saw a record decline in the share of imported coal in the past decade, noting that “medium and low-grade thermal coal are abundantly available domestically, making it imperative for the country to sufficiently produce to fulfill domestic demand.”
Meanwhile, imports also rose earlier in the current fiscal year, following demand patterns. Over the first quarter, coal imports ticked 0.9%, with July imports alone up by 15.9%.
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