NEW DELHI: Helped by a record coal production by the world’s largest coal miner Coal India Ltd (CIL), India reduced its import bill of the dry fuel by more than Rs 28,000 crore in the last fiscal. “Record coal production by CIL leads to a reduction in import by 34.26 million tonnes (MT). Results in a saving of Rs 28,070 crore in foreign exchange during 2015-16,” Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said in a tweet.
He said import of coal came down by 27.4% from 21.42 MT during March 2014-15 to 15.54 MT in March 2015-16. In 2015-16, CIL achieved a record production of 536 MT, which was 42 MT more than the previous fiscal. Its output grew by 8.5% year-on-year.
However, CIL — which accounts for over 80% of the domestic coal production — was eying 550 MT in 2015-16. Yesterday, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said India made an addition of 42 MT in a fiscal, the highest-ever addition to coal production.
