India extends mandate for utilities to import 6% of coal needs until June

The Indian government has extended the mandate for the country's power producers to import 6% of their coal requirements until June, despite adequate domestic availability, amid transport constraints and higher electricity demand, a power ministry note said on Tuesday.

India last year had asked utilities to import 6% of their coal requirements until March due to an unprecedented surge in power and coal demand.

Despite record production by state-run Coal India, which accounts for about 80% of India's domestic production of the fuel, constraints with the country's railway network necessitated imports, the note said.


The ministry estimated peak power demand to reach upto 250 GW in summer (April-June 2024), 3% higher than the record 243 GW in September last year.

Coal accounts for about 75% of India's power generation, with coal-fired plants accounting for more than three quarters of India's use of the polluting fuel.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore and Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Sohini Goswami)