8.3.1. Coal Imports

On account of increased production of coal, imports have fallen from 217.78 Mte in 2014-15 to

199.88 Mte in 2015-16. The trend of fall in import of coal continued in 2016-17 wherein for the period April 2016-January 2017, coal imports have reduced by 2.59% as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. However, import of coal is not solely dependent on the domestic production of coal. It also depends on other factors like power plant designed on imported coal and insufficient availability of coking coal of required grade.