India’s thermal coal imports fell for the sixth consecutive month on an annual basis in February 2025 due to rising domestic production of the critical commodity.

According to global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler, India’s thermal coal imports, largely consumed by the Power sector, fell by 18.5 per cent Y-o-Y and 6.4 per cent M-o-M to 11.36 million tonnes (mt).

Alexis Ellender, Senior Lead Dry Bulks Insight at Kpler, pointed out that at 11.36 mt, February 2025 thermal coal imports were down by 2.58 mt Y-o-Y, a sixth consecutive month of annual decline.

“Coal-fired generation in India rose to a seasonal record in February on the back of robust economic activity; however, higher coal burn is not translating into higher seaborne imports due to the availability of domestic supplies, with combined stocks at power plants well above the year-ago level,” he told businessline.

As per the Coal Ministry, imports during April-December 2024 fell by 8.4 per cent Y-o-Y to 183.42 mt resulting in foreign exchange savings of around $5.43 billion (?42,315.7 crore).

Coal-based power generation grew by 3.53 per cent Y-o-Y during April-December 2024 with imports for blending by thermal power plants decreasing by 29.8 per cent. Coal production grew by 6.11 per cent Y-o-Y during the same period.

“Seasonal weather-related disruption to Australian and Indonesian exports also weighed on the pace of trade through February,” Ellender explained.

Kpler expects India’s coal exports to grow during the peak power demand summer season. April-June and August-October witness significant electricity consumption due to higher demand for cooling on account of summers and humid weather, respectively.

“In a move intended to boost generation ahead of peak summer season, the government has extended a mandate requiring utilities burning imported coal to boost generation for a further two months until April 20. This will support seaborne demand, and we expect thermal coal imports to rise to close to 14 mt in March (2025) and remain strong through April-June,” Ellender said.

Higher domestic production

India’s coal production increased by 1.71 per cent Y-o-Y to 98.26 mt during February 2025. During the April to February period in FY25, the output rose by 5.45 per cent to 929.15 mt.

Overall coal despatch rose 1.06 per cent Y-o-Y to 85.63 mt in February 2025 with the Power sector accounting for 81 per cent, or roughly 69.61 mt. During the 11M FY25 period, coal despatch to the Power sector rose by almost 4 per cent Y-o-Y to 764.56 mt.

During January 2025, pan-India coal-based power plants consumed 73.1 mt of the commodity marginally lower than 73.5 mt consumed a year-ago. During 10M FY25, the consumption rose by 3.6 per cent Y-o-Y to 731.8 mt.

Total coal supplied during January stood at 78.2 mt, rising by 1.03 per cent Y-o-Y, which included 4.1 mt of imported coal (January 2024: 6.1 mt) for blending and 74.1 mt of domestic supplies (January 2024: 71.3 mt).

During 11M FY25, total supply rose by 3.36 per cent Y-o-Y to 732.8 mt, which included 52.4 mt of imported supply (11M FY25: 52.7 MT) and 680.4 mt of domestic supply (11M FY25: 656.3 mt).

by thehindubusinessline