Coronavirus impact: India’s coal import drops over 27% to 16 MT in March

India’s coal import in March stood at 15.74 million tonnes (MT), down 27.5 per cent over last year, due to restrictions imposed at various ports in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The country had imported 21.72 MT of coal in March last year, according to a provisional compilation by mjunction services based on monitoring of vessels’ positions and data received from shipping companies.

However, the country’s coal import registered an increase of 3.2 per cent to 242.97 MT in 2019-20.

“On a progressive basis, total coal and coke imports during 2019-20 (April 2019-March 2020) stood at 242.97 MT (provisional), about 3.24 per cent higher than 235.35 MT imported during the previous fiscal (April 2018-March 2019),” it said.