Commercial mining likely to replace coal import market: Icra report

The report noted that India's coal demand-supply balance remains tilted in favour of coal imports

The recent bidding guidelines for commercial coal mining is likely to throw open a market for import substitution.

A report from Icra says the absence of end-use condition in the guidelines is a significant positive for commercial miners, who were not eligible to participate in the previous coal mine auctions conducted during 2015.  "The potential market opportunity for private commercial miners would include the partial substitution of India's 160 million tonne per annum (mtpa) thermal coal imports, getting a share of the 100mtpa e-auction market, and meeting a part of the 165 mtpa incremental domestic coal demand to be