India’s coal imports fell 8.5 percent to 16.55 million tonnes in February, according to data compiled by mJunction Services, as record domestic reserves and strong global prices reduced dependence on foreign supplies. The country’s coal imports are expected to remain low in the near term, with domestic miners stepping up efforts to exhaust accumulated reserves.
Vinay Verma, MD & CEO, mJunction, said, “The decline in thermal coal imports has been driven by record high domestic coal stocks and strong seaborne prices. With domestic miners attempting to liquidate stocks, the weak trend in imports is expected to continue during the current month.”Coal imports stood at 18.10 million tonnes in February 2024-25, while on a month-on-month basis, imports remained largely stable at 16.64 million tonnes in January 2026.Of total imports in February, shipments of non-coking coal fell to 9.80 million tonnes from 11.08 million tonnes a year earlier. In contrast, coking coal imports increased from 3.79 million tonnes to 3.92 million tonnes in the same period.During April-February 2025-26, non-coking coal imports stood at 137.60 million tonnes, down from 152.26 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2024-25. However, coking coal imports increased from 49.62 million tonnes to 54.31 million tonnes.The decline in imports comes amid a broader effort to strengthen domestic coal production as part of the government’s self-reliance initiative.India’s total coal production to increase from 997.826 million tonnes last year to 1,047.523 million tonnes in 2024-25, showing an increase of about 4.98 per cent.A senior coal ministry official said coal stocks at thermal power plants remained comfortable at around 55 million tonnes as of Tuesday, which is enough for about 24 days of uninterrupted power generation based on last week’s average consumption.Coal Joint Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Kasi addressed concerns over possible shortage amid rising summer demand, saying the stock position indicates “not a complete shortage” in terms of power generation.“Coal stocks in power plants as of yesterday (Tuesday) are about 55 million tonnes, which is enough for 24 days of uninterrupted power generation based on the average consumption of the last seven days. So we have no shortage of power generation,” he said at an inter-ministerial briefing on West Asia developments.The official said domestic coal production is currently in line with consumption levels.
