Decline in coal imports in FY’22 because of less buying by power sector: Govt
“The decline in coal import during 2021-22 is largely due to decrease in import by Power Sector which came down from 45 MT in 2020-21 to 27 MT in 2021-22, decline of almost 40 per cent,” said the coal ministry in a statement.
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On Thursday, the government said that the drop in coal imports in FY’22 was mainly because of the power sector’s inbound shipments declining.
Coal imports that had reached 248 million tonnes (MT) in FY’20 declined continuously during the next two financial years to 215 MT in 2020-21 and 209 MT in 2021-22.
“The decline in coal import during 2021-22 is largely due to decrease in import by Power Sector which came down from 45 MT in 2020-21 to 27 MT in 2021-22, decline of almost 40 per cent,” the coal ministry said in a statement.
“The decline is more steep if we compare coal imports by power sector in 2021-22 to pre-Covid year of 2019-20 when such import was 69 MT,” the ministry said.
Despite steep rise in actual demand of coal from 956 MT in 2019-20 to 1,027 MT in 2021-22, its imports have not increased.
Coal imports grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.86 per cent during the period 2009-10 to 2013-14. At this CAGR, coal imports would have touched 705 MT in 2020-21 and further to 866 MT in 2021-22.
The import of coal could be brought back on track only by sustaining increased domestic supply over the years.
The country’s coal output increased to 777 MT in 2021-22 over 716 MT in 2020-21.