Coal imports may touch 265 MT in FY17

A slew of steps like removal of regulatory hurdles are underway to enhance India’s coal output in a bid to curb rising imports that may touch 265 MT in FY’17, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

“In the 12th Plan projections, the gap between demand and domestic supply in 2016-17 is estimated to be in the range of 185-265 million tonne,” he said. Imports touched 168.4 MT last fiscal from 29 MT a few years back, he said. “In order to minimise import deficiency, the focus of the government is on facilitating environment and forest clearances expeditiously, pursuing with state government for assistance in land acquisition and coordinated efforts with railway for movement of coal,” Goyal 

informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

With domestic demand for coal higher than the supply, the increasing trend in import is expected 

to continue in 2015-16, he said, adding that the imports had risen to 168.44 MT in 2013-14 from 28.95 MT in 2005-06.