India expects private coal mines to produce 350-400 mt coal by 2030

11 Mar 2022 CW Team

India expects private coal mines to generate 350-400 million tonnes (mt) of coal by 2030, potentially decreasing the nation's dependence on imports.

India, the world's second-largest coal consumer behind China, opened up coal mining to the private sector firms, like Adani Enterprises and Vedanta, for the first time in 2020, after years of lobbying by coal users to privatise coal mining. The surged domestic production could mean lower imports. Indonesia, Australia and South Africa are the nation's largest suppliers and together account for more than 90% of coal imports.

India's imports have dropped in recent months due to increased global costs, growing dependence on Coal India. The state-run miner estimates for more than 80% of India's domestic output and aims for an output of 670 million tonnes in 2021-22.

M Nagaraju, the additional secretary at the federal coal ministry, said he also expected mines recently allocated to state-owned firms along with those auctioned to the private sector to produce 80-85 million tonnes of coal in 2021-22. The output from these mines is likely to surge by nearly 60% to 130-135 million tonnes during the year ended March 2023, Nagaraju told the Indian Coal Markets Conference.

India has since granted licenses to the private sector to run 42 coal mines with a combined capacity of 86 million tonnes per annum. But nearly 75% of the 145 mines auctioned in the first three rounds have so far drawn no interest from private sector participants. Just 11 of the 99 mines auctioned in the fourth round have received any interest from bidders. The fourth round auction process is going on.

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Also read: India's coal imports likely to grow in 2022: Fitch Ratings report

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