In 2011-12 (April-March) India produced around 540 million
tonnes (mt) of coal. This was 1.36% more than the that produced
in 2010-11 (April-March). Of the 540 mt, Coal India accounted
for around 436 mt or a little over 80%. The balance was produced
by Singareni Collieries Company and a host of other small
companies. This wasn’t enough to meet the demand for coal in
India. Hence, 99 mt of coal was imported, primarily from
countries such as Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. India’s
coal import has been growing significantly over the years (as
can be seen from the table here). What also comes out clearly is
that during 2003-09, the cost of the import grew at a much
faster rate than the quantity. This was the period when the
international prices of coal were rallying and touched $190 per
tonne in mid-2008. Why this was not par for the course This
would have been par for the course if India did not have enough
coal reserves, as in the case of oil. (We don’t have enough
known reserves of oil and hence we don’