India's Coal Import Surges 41% To 25.23MT In July: Mjunction

India's coal import rose by 40.56% to 25.23 million tonne in July, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce platform mjunction services.

The country's coal import was 17.95 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal.

Coal import also rose to 100.48 MT in the April-July period of the ongoing fiscal from 89.11 MT a year ago, it said.

Mjunction MD & CEO Vinaya Varma said the import demand is likely to be buoyant in coming weeks, ahead of the festive season next month.

"Imports of non-coking coal showed an uptrend amid softening of prices in the seaborne market. There, however, was a drop in coking coal volumes due to tepid demand from the steel mills," mjunction services said.

Of the total imports in July, non-coking coal's share stood at 16.52 MT, against 10.16 MT imported in the same month a year ago. Coking coal import volume was 4.81 MT against 5.03 MT in July last fiscal.

During the April-July period, non-coking coal import was higher at 65.64 MT compared to 56.69 MT a year ago. Coking coal import was marginally up at 20.26 MT as against 20.24 MT.

Coal and Mines minister G Kishan Reddy had earlier said that India should increase domestic production of the fossil fuel and reduce coal imports.

India's coal import rose 7.7% to 268.24 MT in FY24. In July, coal production rose 6.36% year-on-year to 74 MT.

India's total coal production in April-July was 321.39 MT, up 9.6% from the same period a year ago.