Friday, 17 May, 2024
In the year 2022-23, Odisha registered highest coal production of 218.981 MT (24.52 percent), followed by Chhattisgarh at 184.895 MT (20.70 percent). Image Source: IANS
Non-coking coal production increased by 14.58 percent from 2021–22 to 832.430 MT in 2022–2023 (compared to 726.508 MT in 2021–2022).
The Ministry of Coal has recently released the statistical publication “Provisional Coal Statistics for 2022-23.” This annual publication is meticulously crafted by the Coal Controller Organization (CCO) to meet the data-related requirements of researchers, policymakers and various stakeholders. Recently, India added another feather to its cap as the FY 2022-23 recorded the highest ever domestic production of coal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet, expressed his happiness over the highest ever coal production in the history of India. The PM tweeted, “Outstanding accomplishment in an important sector for economic growth.” The government is emphasizing on increasing domestic coal output and reducing non-essential coal imports into the nation. Production of coal grew by 8.67 percent in 2021–2022 compared to the previous year. During the current year till February, 2023, domestic coal production has increased by over 15 percent compared to the same period of last year. In 2023–2024, it is estimated that domestic coal production will reach more than 1BT.
In comparison to 716.08 MT in 2020–21, the nation as a whole produced 778.21 MT of coal in 2021–22. Around 28 of the top 37 coal mines produced more than 100 percent of their total output in January 2023, and three other mines produced between 80 and 100 percent. The coal production in FY 2022-23 increased by 14.77 percent to 893.19 MT as compared to 778.21 MT in 2021-22.
Source: Ministry of Coal
Coking coal production increased by 17.52 percent from 2021–22 to 2022–23, totaling 60.760 MT compared to 51.702 MT in 2021–22. Non-coking coal production increased by 14.58 percent from 2021–22 to 832.430 MT in 2022–2023 (compared to 726.508 MT in 2021–2022).
Coal Production in India (State Wise)
Source: Ministry of Coal
In the year 2022-23, Odisha registered highest coal production of 218.981 MT (24.52 percent), followed by Chhattisgarh 184.895 MT (20.70 percent), Jharkhand 156.445 MT (17.52 percent) and Madhya Pradesh 146.028 MT (16.35 percent). In 2022-23, Tamil Nadu was the largest producer of lignite and produced 22.480 MT (49.97 percent), followed by Gujarat 12.313 MT (27.37 percent) and Rajasthan 10.197 MT (22.67 percent). Coal India Limited produced 703.204 MT (78.73 percent) and SCCL produced 67.137 MT (7.52 percent) of coal in FY2022-23.
Sector wise off-take of Coal in 2022-23
Source: Ministry of Coal
In the year 2022-23, 96.10 percent of coal production in India was from Open Cast mines (858.342 MT) and the rest 3.90 percent was from Under Ground mines. Power sector continued to be the largest consumer of coal. In 2022-23, the dispatch of coal to power sector was 786.088 MT (89.60 percent) and other than the power sector, coal was mainly despatched to steel sector (13.826 MT, i.e., 1.56 percent), cement sector (8.119 MT, i.e., 0.93 percent), and sponge iron sector (8.059 MT, i.e., 0.92 percent), among others.
India has enough coal reserves, but its own production has not been able to keep up with demand. In addition, the nation's supply of high-quality coal, or low-ash coal, has been scarce. In order to close the gap between supply and demand and provide high-quality coal for use in a variety of industries, the nation must import coal, particularly low-ash coal. The nation imported 237.668 MT of raw coal in 2022–2023 compared to 208.627 MT in 2021–2022. As a result, the import of coal rose by 13.92 percent in 2022–2023 compared to the year before.
Indonesia with 46.21 percent share (109.828 MT) remained the leading supplier of coal to India followed by Australia 19.98 percent (47.498 MT), Russia 8.98 South Africa 7.34 percent (17.445 MT) and USA 5.76 percent (13.692 MT). These five countries together accounted for 88.28 percent of the total import to India during the year 2022-23.
Demand, Despatch, Import and Export of Coal in India (MT)
Source: Ministry of Coal
India exported some coal to its neighbouring nations in 2022–2023, despite the fact that its supply of coal fell short of its need and it was forced to import coal. Bangladesh came in second with 0.245 MT (21.04 percent) of coal exports, after Nepal with 0.833 MT (71.61 percent).
The government has taken several steps in order to reduce imports and maintain a constant supply of coal in the country. Some of the steps are- Regular reviews by Ministry of Coal to expedite the development of coal blocks, Single Window Clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalization of coal mines, Project Monitoring Unit for handholding of coal block allottees for obtaining various approvals / clearances for early operationalization of coal mines. Apart from this the Ministry of Coal has requested the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to allow coal mines with existing Environmental Clearances to increase their production up to 40 percent, to hike by up to 50 percent without Fresh Environmental Impact Assessment or Public Consultation. Talking about the import of coal, according to the current import policy, consumers themselves may freely import coal (under Open General Licence) based on their own needs and commercial discretion.
For ease of doing business, the Ministry of Coal has established a Single Window Clearance System (SWCS) portal. The Ministry’s unique project, SWCS, aims to develop a platform for obtaining multiple clearances for early operationalization of coal mines, which would ultimately lead to an increase in the nation's coal production through a single entry point. In order to provide a boost to the mining sector, 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment has also been allowed for commercial mining.
At the launch of 7th round of commercial coal mines auction and signing of agreements with successful bidders of the 6th round of auctions, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged the coal sector of the country to further ensure energy security of India to meet the requirements of our fast growing economy. He marked that contribution of coal sector is crucial to India’s economic growth.
NITI Aayog in a draft report estimated that India’s coal demand will increase to 1.1-1.3 billion tons by 2030. Coal India is expected to produce one billion tons by 2025-26. Exploring and utilising the alternate sources of electricity generation is extremely important for the country as India faced massive power outages and crisis in the previous year.
With a growth of 8.40 percent in Q1 of FY 2023–24, the Ministry of Coal has significantly increased nationwide coal production. When compared to Q1 of FY 2022–23, when the overall coal production was 205.65 million tons (MT), it has significantly increased to 222.93 MT. Production at Coal India Limited (CIL) increased by an amazing 9.85 percent in FY 2023–2024, from 159.63 MT in the same time the previous year to 175.35 MT. In FY 23–24, captive mines/others saw an increase of 4.74 percent, reaching 30.48 MT, up from 29.10 MT in FY 22–23 over the same period. These successes have contributed to the industry's general upward trend.
Over 70 percent of India's power generation capacity comes from coal plants alone, demonstrating the nation's heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Solar energy makes up 14.3 percent of all renewable energy sources, followed by hydroelectricity (11.6 percent) and wind (10 percent). Less than 2 percent of India's power generation capacity is based on nuclear energy. By exploring and utilising the alternate sources of electricity generation, India must focus on minimising its coal imports.
