Weak logistics support and disrupted supply chain towards the end of the last financial year 2019-20 hit the government’s plan to cut coal imports and boost domestic production. Despite having the world’s fourth-largest coal reserves in the country, India imported about one-fourth of its domestic coal requirements in the last fiscal, mainly due to shortfall in coal production and logistical constraints in evacuation infrastructure, said a report by Care Ratings. While coal production in India remained flat – rising marginally by 0.1 per cent in FY20, imports surged 3.3 per cent. Although Coal India has been mandated by the government to replace at least 100 million tonnes of substitutable imports with domestically-produced coal in the ongoing fiscal, the effect of the nationwide lockdown may keep India relying on imports in the current fiscal too.
