India's Coal Imports Decline Amid Record Domestic Stockpiles

India's coal imports fell by 8.5% in February due to a record domestic stockpile and high seaborne prices. The trend is likely to persist as domestic miners focus on liquidating stocks. The drop aligns with India's self-reliance initiative, as domestic production continues to rise.

India's coal imports experienced an 8.5% decline in February as the country witnessed a record domestic stockpile and firm seaborne prices. This trend is expected to persist, with domestic miners actively working to liquidate existing stocks, according to mjunction CEO Vinaya Varma.

mjunction services, a B2B e-commerce platform jointly owned by Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India, provided these insights following their data analysis for February 2024-25. Compared to January 2026, coal imports remained nearly unchanged at 16.55 million tonnes.

In February, non-coking coal imports decreased to 9.80 MT, while coking coal imports slightly increased to 3.92 MT. These figures align with India's ongoing strategic push for self-reliance in coal production, with an all-India coal production of 1,047.523 MT recorded for 2024-25, a growth of approximately 4.98% over the previous year.

(With inputs from agencies.)