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Coal demand to hit 1.6 billion tonnes by 2030: Official
India's coal demand is likely to touch 1.6 billion tonnes per annum by 2030, Union Coal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt said at the Global Commodities Conclave in Mumbai on Friday. He stressed…
The Story in Brief
India's coal demand is likely to touch 1.6 billion tonnes per annum by 2030, Union Coal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt said at the Global Commodities Conclave in Mumbai on Friday. He stressed the need for transparent, market-driven pricing for the commodity, pointing out that state-run Coal India has had a virtual monopoly. The government plans to operationalise a 'coal exchange', an independent marketplace for simultaneous bidding, in the coming months, which Dutt said will enable efficient price discovery and lay the groundwork for a derivatives market. Domestic coal production has crossed 1 billion tonnes in each of the last two fiscal years.
Dutt said India is shifting from a scarcity scenario to a surplus, making competitive and transparent mechanisms necessary. The coal exchange will act as a central counterparty for clearing and settlement, improving risk management. The reform is expected to strengthen energy security and support the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
The Indian Opinion
There is a tendency to frame India's growing coal use as a failure of green transition, ignoring that coal remains the mainstay of energy for a developing economy. At the same time, the government's enthusiasm for a coal exchange must not gloss over the monopoly's grip, Coal India still dominates production and pricing. The real test is whether the exchange will truly break that hold and deliver transparent prices, or become another state-controlled platform. Watch for the number of independent miners that actually participate in the first year of operations.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
