India: Imports Essential To Meet Power Demand

摘要

Imported coal will be essential to close the gap between India's demand and supply, and to meet the quality standards for both iron and steel production and power generation not available from lower quality domestic coal.rnIndia's coal industry is highly-regulated and dominated by one of the world's largest coal producers, state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) which produces about 90% of total Indian coal production.rnAnother major player in the industry is Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) which is 51% owned by the government of eastern Andhra Pradesh state and 49% by the government of India.rnTogether, CIL and SCCL produce about 97% of the country's coal. In November 2008 CIL and SCCL produced 39.49 mt, an increase of 7.9% on the 36.6 mt produced in the corresponding month of the previous year.rnIndia is the world's third-largest producer and consumer of coal, with proven reserves of more than 257 bt, the fourth-largest in the world. Coal is one of India's most abundant sources of energy and accounts for more than 70% of primary energy consumed in the country.