India wants to reduce coal imports and increase domestic production, federal coal minister G. Kishan Reddy said on Thursday.
The country, the world’s second-largest consumer of coal, imported 176 million tons of thermal coal in 2023, according to a previous Reuters report. Imports are expected to not go beyond 160 million tons in 2024, Rajat Handa, vice president of international trade at a coal importing firm Agarwal Coal, told Reuters in February.
Reddy did not provide further details on the government’s plans to achieve this goal.
India has increasingly relied on coal to address growing power demand, as it expects power generation to grow the fastest since at least 2011/12. However, the country has also faced pressure from rich economies to reduce its dependence on the heavily polluting fuel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has slowed the growth of coal-based power capacity and is focusing on India’s green energy transition in a bid to meet its 2070 net-zero emission goals. Despite this, India has plans to set up new coal power plants, with power generation set to begin four years later.
The move to boost domestic coal production and reduce imports is likely aimed at improving India’s energy security and reducing its reliance on foreign sources of the fuel. It also aligns with the government’s push for self-reliance in key sectors, including energy.