Coal demand to grow 4% a year till 2022

KOLKATA: India’s coal demand is expected to grow at about 4% a year up to 2022 as thermal power plants generate more to meet strong demand, analysts say. However, imports are expected to fall, except for coking coal which is projected to rise 5% a year.

“In case renewable energy capacity reaches 125 GW by 2022, coal demand growth would be at around a CAGR of 3.6%, assuming power demand growth as 5% CAGR,” said Jayanta Roy, senior vice-president at ratings agency ICRA. “In absolute terms, coal production is expected to touch 1,003 million tonnes in 2022 from 839 tonnes in 2017,” he said.