GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COAL
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1293
TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.03.2016
Production /Demand/Supply/Import of Coal
1293. SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY:
SHRI SHANKAR PRASAD DATTA:
SHRI ANANTKUMAR HEGDE:
SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE:
SHRI R.P.MARUTHARAJAA:
DR. P.VENUGOPAL:
SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK:
SHRI BHOLA SINGH:
Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:
(a) whether there is the shortage of coal in the country, if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon including world ranking of India in coal production;
(b) the production, demand supply and import of coal by Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries and the private sector separately during each of the last three years and the current year, company and State-wise;
(c)whether the Government has taken any steps to encourage the private investments for coal development particularly for acquiring new technologies, if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government proposes to end the import of coal and reduce the extra burden on coal users, if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether the CIL which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production is targeting one billion tonnes of coal production by the year 2020, if so, the details thereof?
Answer
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF
COAL, POWER AND NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a): The total consumption of coal during 2014-15 was 819.7Mte. against the supply of domestic coal of 607.6 Mte. The gap between total consumption & domestic supply has been met through import of coal to the extent of 212.10Mte. India is the 3rd largest producer of coal in the World.
(b):As per Annual Plan 2015-16 of Ministry of Coal, the all India demand, production and supply of coal during last three years and the current year is given below:- (in million tonnes)
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 April- Dec.
Total demand (Mte) 772.84 769.69 787.03 --
Total domestic Production (Mte) 556.40 565.77 612.44 447.48
Total domestic Supply (Mte) 567.14 572.06 607.63 463.23
Total Import (Mte) 145.79 166.86 212.10 127.52*
*Import of coal upto November, 2015. Source: CCO
(c):In order to bring in better technology through private investment, development of some of coal blocks assigned to CIL is envisaged through engaging Mine Development & Operator(MDO). The CIL has finalized a Model Contract Agreement (MCA) to facilitate it. This was with a view to create a conductive environment for private operators to invest & operate in coal sector.
(d):The import of coal has been kept under Open General License (OGL) and users are free to import coal from the sources of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty. In order to minimize the import dependency of coal, the focus of the Government is to increase the domestic production of coal by expediting Environment & Forest clearances expeditiously, pursuing with State Government for assistance in land acquisition and making coordinated efforts with Railways for movement of coal.Inspite of these steps, the entire demand of coal will not be met indigenously as supply of coking coal in country is limited and certain power plants were designed on the basis of imported coal in earlier years.
(e): The overall production of coal in 2014-15 was 612.44 Mte. of which, production from CIL was 494.23 Mte. which constitutes 81% of the total coal production. A roadmap has been prepared by Coal India Limited (CIL) to enhance production of coal to 1 Billion Tonnes of Coal by 2019-20. This includes capacity addition from new projects, use of mass production technologies and identification of existing ongoing projects with growth potential.