Coal imports decline by 5% in April-May.

New Delhi, Jun 28 : Coal imports declined by 4.9 per cent to 35.85 million tonnes (MT) in April-May due to increased production by Coal India, a top official said today.

The imports in April-May of the last fiscal were 37.72 million tonnes (MT), Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said in a tweet.

"Coal India's increased production leads to reduction in coal import. Down from 37.72 MT during Apr-May '15 to 35.85 MT during Apr-May '16," Swarup tweeted.

In another tweet, the Secretary said that reduction in coal imports resulted in saving of "Rs 4,285 crore during April-May 2016 by way of foreign exchange".

"A new chapter in addressing issues relating to quality of coal supplied by CIL. Third Party sampling and testing to be done by CSIR Labs," he tweeted further.

Last week Swarup had said that coal imports will come down further in the ongoing fiscal on account of increased domestic output.

The secretary had said the demand of coal in the country is not growing at the pace it was envisaged and expressed hope that with Uday scheme will help boost the demand for the dry fuel in the days to come.

In 2015-16, Coal India (CIL) achieved a record production of 536 MT, which was 42 MT more than the previous fiscal.
Its production grew 8.5 per cent year-on-year. CIL was, however, eyeing 550 MT output. The output target is fixed at 598 MT for this fiscal.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com