This comes as demand for coal-based power remains high.

Coal despatches to India’s power sector are projected to increase by year-end as the demand for coal-based power remains high, CareEdge reported.

“CareEdge Research maintains its coal production estimate of 850–900 MT by the end of this fiscal year driven by Coal India Limited’s expected ramp-up in production to achieve the Ministry of Coal’s target to produce 1 billion tonnes by FY26 and 1.5 billion tonnes by FY30,” Tanvi Shah, Director, CareEdge Advisory & Research, said.

“Despatches to the power sector are likely to inch up further as demand from coal-based power plants remains high.”

Between April and January 2023, coal production in the country rose to 698 million tonnes, up by 16% year-on-year.

Of this, 609MT were despatched to the power sector, representing a 10.5%YoY increase.

Moreover, total coal imports increased by 25.6% to 191.82MT from April to December 2022.

CareEdge, however, expects the government to be less reliant on imports this year.

“While the imports have increased compared to last year, the government’s initiatives to increase domestic production would lower dependence on imported coal in the medium-long term,” Shah also said.

“The international coal prices are expected to remain moderate in the nearmedium term due to soft global demand.”