India sees annual coal output up 10.9% in 2024/25 (updated)

NLC India

02/02/2024 11:16

(Adds details)
    By Sudarshan Varadhan
       NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - India expects domestic coal
output to increase by 10.9% to 1.13 billion metric tons in the
fiscal year ending March 2025, a senior government official
said, driven mainly by higher production from mines owned by
private companies.
    State-run Coal India  COAL.NS  is expected to boost
production to 850 million tons from an estimated 780 million
tons in 2023/24, but its share in overall output is expected to
drop to 75% from 80% in 2022/23.
    If output meets expectations, it will mark the third
straight year of India's coal output rising by more than 10%.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has cited energy
security concerns amid surging power demand and low per-capita
emissions to defend India's high dependence on coal. Power
generation in 2023 increased by 11.3%, the fastest pace in at
least five years.
    The world's second largest user of coal has also been
boosting imports of thermal coal, which increased 9.4% to 176.3
million tons in the year ended December 2023, according to
consultancy Coalmint.
        Coal-fired energy output surged 14.7% in 2023, outpacing
renewable output growth for the first time since at least 2019.
    Captive mines - which mine coal for their own use - are seen
boosting production to 175 million tons in 2024/25, 30 million
tons more than estimated in 2023/24, the official said. Output
from mines recently auctioned to private companies are expected
to boost output by over 40% to 20 million tons in 2024/25.
        Smaller miner Singreni Collieries is expected to produce
72 million tons in 2024/25, compared with an estimated 70
million tons in 2023/24. NLC India  NLCI.NS  is expected to
produce 17.8 million tons in 2024/25, compared with 14.44
million tons this fiscal year.
    India has contributed most to the rise in Asia's coal-fired
power output, with an increase in generation outpacing other
coal-dependent major economies such as Indonesia, Philippines
and Vietnam.

 (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan  Editing by Jason Neely and
Mark Potter)
 ((sudarshan.Varadhan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 91164984; Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sudvaradhan @sudvaradhan;))