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Coal exports to help India lower trade deficit in energy

India is set to export coal for the first time, shipping 2-3 million tonnes (mt) of the fuel to neighbouring Bangladesh, as domestic stocks swell following a record output.State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) raised output by 8.5% in 2015-16 to 536 mt, which helped bring down imports by 34 mt.By the end of March, coal stock available with power generation companies also rose to the equivalent of 27 days’ requirement, up from 18 days a year ago.“Talks are on with Bangladesh for export of coal. Now, they are importing from Indonesia. Export of coal will help as far as our trade deficit in energy is concerned,” coal secretary Anil Swarup said.

While the quantum of exports is yet to be finalized, 2-3 mt a year will make a good beginning, he added.CIL, which is planning to double output to 1 billion tonne by 2019-20, wants to explore neighbouring markets to boost sales.Though coal is in surplus, India is heavily import-dependent on the other two primary sources of energy—crude oil and natural gas.The government wants to reduce this dependence by 10 percentage points to 67% by 2022, by encouraging domestic production of oil and gas through a liberal policy regime and shifting consumption to more renewable and nuclear energy.