India to bridge coal import gap by 50pc in 3 yrs: Coal India

India is working on bridging the coal import gap by about 50 per cent in the next three years, Coal India Chairman A K Jha said on Friday.

In the 2018-19 fiscal, the country produced 730 million tonnes (MT) of coal, while 955 MT was consumed, leading to a gap of 230-235 MT.

"Coal imports were 235 MT last year. The country cannot avoid imports of around 120 MT due to lack of options... and imports by power plants in the coastal belt.

"We will bridge the remaining coal (115-120 MT), which is imported in the next three years with higher production and better evacuation," Jha said.

He, however, said that availability of land and proper law and order situation are necessary for a "quantam" jump in production.

Jha was speaking at the media briefing for the 8th Asian Mining Congress and IME Exhibition, scheduled to be held on November 6-9.

He said Coal India plans to produce 53 MT of more coal to 660 MT in the current fiscal, and a similar 50-55 MT incremental production every year will bridge the 115-120 MT gap.

Coal India had earlier pushed back its 1-billion-tonne production vision to 2025-26.

The miner, which caters to 80 per cent of the country's energy requirement, is also executing rail network from its mine pitheads worth Rs 6,000-7,000 crore for high coal evacuation.