Fall in coal imports in FY25 led to forex savings worth ₹60,681 crore, says coal minister
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister noted that the imports stood at 264.53 million tonnes in 2023-24.
'During 2024-25, India imported 243.62 million tonnes of coal, compared to 264.53 million tonnes in 2023-24. Due to the reduction of around 20.91 million tonnes in coal imports, there has been a forex savings of around ₹ 60,681.67 crore during 2024-25 compared to 2023-24,' Reddy said.
The fall in imports comes amid the rise in domestic production. India's coal production reached 1.047 billion tonnes in the last fiscal year, nearly 5% higher than 997.83 million tonnes in 2023-24.
The minister said most of the country's coal requirement is currently met through indigenous production and supplies. The ministry of coal has set an ambitious domestic coal production target of about 1.5 billion tonnes by 2029-30.
The focus of the government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and reducing non-essential coal imports. The ministry of coal launched the Coal Logistics Plan and Policy in February 2024 to develop infrastructure for efficient coal evacuation, considering increased coal production projection by 2029-30," he said.
The minister also outlined steps taken by the Centre to increase domestic coal production.
He noted that, in addition to regular reviews by the coal ministry to expedite the development of coal blocks, the government has taken several regulatory measures in the past few years, including the enactment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021.
State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has adopted a number of measures to increase coal production, including the adoption of new and modern technologies like mass production technologies (MPT) with the deployment of continuous miners, longwalls, and highwalls wherever feasible, he said, adding that digital transformation has been implemented on apilot scale in seven of its mega mines.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
40 minutes ago
- The Hindu
BJP calls for development of Tier-2, Tier-3 cities for equitable growth and control urban migration
BJP president N. Ramchander Rao on Wednesday has highlighted the need for development to the Tier-2 and Tier -3 cities of Telangana for ensuring equitable growth distribution. It is not enough for Hyderabad capital region alone to be developed as rest of Telangana too should be brought onto the growth path and urban migration can be controlled only when sufficient employment opportunities should be created in the rural areas, he observed. Giving an insight into the party's road map for growth and development of the State at an event organised by the Federation of Telangana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) here, the State president has pointed out that the Central government has laid lot of emphasis on promoting start ups as well as small, medium and micro level enterprises which provide more employment opportunities. A separate Skill Development Ministry has been formed yet the industry is looking for skilled manpower, averred the former MLC and wondered if any policy level changes were necessary to deal with it. There is no development in the corporate sector and despite the Opposition accusing Centre of being a 'suit boot sarkar', it has created an ennobling environment for firms to thrive, he claimed. The BJP-led government at the Centre has been aiding Telangana and Hyderabad in building the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR) and also the circular rail network abutting it to provide better connectivity. Mr. Rao called upon the youth to ride on the entrepreneurship model making use of the new age technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Semi-Conductors and others so that they can turn to job givers than job seekers. The Modi government initiatives has led to direct benefit transfer of schemes with the opening of bank accounts to those sections untouched with the banking sector, he said and sought suggestions from the organisation for improving upon the ease of doing businesses rules. FTCCI president R. Ravikumar and others were present.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
40 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Dr Reddy's to launch obesity drug in 87 nations starting next year: CEO
Dr Reddy's Laboratories plans to launch a cheaper copycat version of Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy in 87 countries next year, the Indian drugmaker's CEO, Erez Israeli, said on Wednesday. The plan for launch of generic semaglutide, active ingredient of Novo's Wegovy and Ozempic, comes as drugmakers race to grab a share of the global obesity drug market which is expected to generate around $150 billion in sales by the early 2030s. The company initially plans to launch the generic version in Canada, India, Brazil, Turkey and other emerging markets, subject to patent expiry, Israeli said at a press conference. "U.S. and Europe will open later," he added. Dr Reddy's has filed relevant regulatory applications in all the countries it is planning to launch the generic version in, Israeli said. Semaglutide will go off patent in India in March next year. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Kerala will bear land acquisition cost of Sabari Rail project: Minister tells Parliament
Clearing the ambiguity over the financing of the Sabari Rail project, the Union Railway Ministry has made it clear that Kerala will acquire the land required for the project using the State share, ie 50% of the project cost. The State government has agreed to acquire land using its share of 50% of the project cost. Once land acquisition by the State started, work on the project could be taken forward, said Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in reply to a question in Parliament on Wednesday. To a specific question whether the Union government had any plans to extend the railway line to Thiruvananthapuram to connect the Vizhinjam International Seaport, the Minister made it clear that there was no relation between the Sabarimala rail project and the Vizhinjam International Seaport. There had been ambiguity regarding sharing the cost of the project as the State had been maintaining that the liability incurred by it by financing the project through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) should be fully exempted from the State's borrowing limit. The Union government then suggested a tripartite agreement to implement the project, involving the State government, the Ministry of Railways, and the Reserve Bank of India. However, in the memorandum submitted by the Kerala government to the Railway Minister on June 3, the State government made it clear that it would not agree to enter into a tripartite agreement as suggested by the Union government. High-level committee During a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Mr. Vaishnaw in June, the Union Minister had promised that a high-level committee from the Railway ministry would visit the project site in July as part of reviving the project. However, the committee had not yet visited Kerala, though the State government had directed District Collectors of Ernakulam, Idukki, and Kottayam to restore the land acquisition units and to finalise the revised alignment of the railway line to speed up implementation of the project, said government sources. As per the revised estimate, the project will cost ₹3,810.69 crore. The 110-km Angamaly-Erumely route was first announced in the 1997-98 Railway Budget. Land acquisition had been completed in 8 km, while the work on the 7-km stretch between Angamaly and Kalady was completed earlier.
