India Achieves 47 % Growth In Coal Production During Last Nine Years
Attains 893.08 Million tonne production in FY 2023: Targets 1012 MT by 2023-24
India has seen a significant increase in coal production over the past nine years. Overall coal production in the country has risen by 47% to reach 893.08 million tonnes (MT), and supply has reached 877.74 million tonnes, showing a growth of 45.37%. The recent leap in coal production to 893.08 MT in the fiscal year 2023 is the highest in the history of India.
Looking ahead, the Ministry of Coal has set a coal production target of 1012 million tonnes for the financial year 2023-24. This target aims to enhance overall production, efficiency, sustainability, and the adoption of new technologies.
In FY 2022-23, the Ministry signed agreements for a total of 23 coal mines with a cumulative peak rated capacity (PRC) of 33.224 MT per annum. Due to a positive response received for the 6th round of commercial auctions, it is expected that 25 coal mines will be allocated for commercial mining during FY 2023-24.
To further boost the production and utilization of domestic coking coal in India by 2030, the government launched the “Mission Coking Coal” in August 2021. This mission aims to develop a roadmap for increasing the production and utilization of domestic coking coal. The recommendations of the Mission Coking Coal document include new exploration, enhancing production, enhancing washing capacity, and the auction of new coking coal mines.
The objectives of the Mission Coking Coal are as follows:
a) Enhancing coking coal production from 52 MT in FY 2022 to 140 MT in FY 2030.
b) Enhancing coking coal washing capacity from 23 MT in FY 2022 to 61 MT in FY 2023.
Coking coal is primarily used in the manufacturing of steel through the blast furnace route. Domestic coking coal in India has a high ash content (mostly between 18% to 49%), making it unsuitable for direct use in the blast furnace. Therefore, coking coal is washed to reduce the ash percentage. Indian Prime and Medium Coking Coal, which has an ash content of less than 18%, is blended with imported coking coal (ash content below 9%) before being utilized in the blast furnace.
