India’s imports of thermal coal jumped 23% to just under 24 million t at 12 major ports in 2Q15, according to a report from the Press Trust of India. Metallurgical coal volumes remained steady at 8.17 million t.
The rise in imports comes even at India’s federal government is pushing state-owned coal miner, Coal India (CIL), to boost production to around 1 billion t by 2019 to help meet the country’s growing demand for electricity. In the last financial year, CIL recorded production of 494.23 million t and has been set a target of 550 million t in the currest fiscal.
India’s twelve major ports handle 61% of the country’s total imports.
Written by Jonathan Rowland. Source: Press Trust of India via The Economic Times.