Centre expects coal production to grow at 6-7% annually
The Coal Ministry has said that it expects pan-India coal production to grow at 6-7 per cent per annum in the next few years to reach 1.5 billion tonnes (bt) by the end of this decade.
Earlier this week, Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy said in Rajya Sabha that most of the requirement of coal in the country is met through indigenous coal production.
Import of coal mainly consists of essential import like coking coal and higher grade non-coking coal as their domestic production is limited due to either scarce reserves or non-availability.
“In order to meet future demand of coal through indigenous sources and to reduce non-essential import of coal, domestic coal production is expected to grow by 6-7 per cent annually in next few coming years to reach about 1.5 billion tonne by 2029-30,” he said in response to a written query.
The all-India domestic coal production has already surpassed a billion tonnes with the output growing by almost 5 per cent Y-o-Y to 1047.67 Million Tonne (mt) in FY25.
The Minister also informed that Coal India (CIL) has a target of reaching 1 bt production by FY27 from 781 mt in FY25.
In this direction, the mining behemoth expects to hit a production target of 875 mt (FY26), 1,004 mt (FY27), 1,043 mt (FY28), 1,082 mt (FY29) and 1,131 mt (FY30).
As per the Ministry’s action plan for FY26, CIL will account for 875 mt, or roughly 76.06 per cent, of the total targeted quantity. This is higher than the 74.55 per cent share the mining behemoth had in the 1,047.68 mt output in FY25.
The FY26 share of India’s second largest coal producer, SCCL is at 6.17 per cent, or 72 mt, which is lower than its share in FY25 at 6.59 per cent (69.01 mt).
Captive & Others, which includes commercial coal mines, are likely to account for 17.68 per cent, or 203.30 mt, of production in FY26, which is lower than its share of 18.86 per cent in FY24.
The segment—a key to reaching the 1.5 bt target by 2030, had produced 154.16 mt, or 15.45 per cent, of the total coal extracted in India in FY24.
Published on August 1, 2025
