In the first seven months of FY 2024-25, April-October, coal imports decreased by 3.1 per cent, totaling 149.39 million tonnes (MT) compared to 154.17 MT during the same period in the previous year.
Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate seized two illegal coal loaded trucks in Chowringhee police outpost area on national highway-19 at Jharkhand – Bengal border and seized about 50 tonnes of coal.
Additionally, the Non-Regulated Sector (other than power) witnessed a more significant drop of 8.8 per cent, during April-October 2024 as compared to the same period of last year.
Building on the success of previous rounds, the Ministry continues its efforts to unlock India's vast coal reserves and enhance energy security, the statement said.
The Coal India Limited (CIL) has planned to develop 36 new coal projects in the next five years and the Ministry of Coal has allocated a total of 175 coal blocks.
The increase in production comes on the back of the successful implementation of policy reforms by the government which include measures such as the transparent e-auction of commercial mines.
It said that the Ninth round of commercial auctions was launched by the Ministry of Coal on December 20, 2023, for 32 coal mines.
This notable decrease indicates sufficient availability of coal in the market to meet the growing demands, the Ministry of Coal said.
In November, the index of eight core industries was 7.9%.
The Ministry of Coal on Monday said it aims to produce 186.63 million tonne (MT) coal exclusively from captive /commercial coal mines during FY 2024-25.
