India’s Coal Imports Drop 8.5% in Feb on Record Domestic Stockpile
Firm global prices and surplus domestic coal keep import demand weak
New Delhi: India's coal import dropped 8.5 per cent to 16.55 million tonnes in February on record stockpile of domestic coal and firmness in the sea-borne prices. The country’s coal import is poised to maintain a weak trend this month with domestic miners making efforts to liquidate stockpiles. The drop in import comes amid a strategic push for self-reliance in coal production under the self-reliance initiative.
“A record high stockpile of domestic coal and firm seaborne prices resulted in a drop in thermal coal imports. With the domestic miners endeavouring to liquidate stocks, the weak trend in imports is expected to continue during the current month," mjunction MD & CEO Vinaya Varma said.
Mjunction Services is a B2B e-commerce platform and joint venture between Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India. The import in February 2024-25 stood at 18.10 (MT), according to data compiled by mjunction services limited. On a month-on-month basis, coal import in February was almost flat as against 16.64 MT in January 2026.
Of the total imports in February, non-coking coal imports stood at 9.80 MT, lower than 11.08 MT imported in February 2024-25. Coking coal imports stood at 3.92 MT, higher than 3.79 MT imported in February 2024-25.
During April-February 2025-26, non-coking coal import was at 137.60 MT, lower than 152.26 MT imported during the same period in 2024-25. Coking coal import was at 54.31 MT during April-February 2025-26, against 49.62 MT recorded for April-February 2024-25.
