Coal demand set for steep rise owing to surge in power needs

New Delhi: The country's coal demand, which had remained weak earlier in the current financial year, is poised for a boost in the coming days on the back of a sharp turnaround in electricity consumption, an industry expert said on Sunday.

Vinaya Varma, Managing Director of mjunction services ltd -- a B2B e-commerce platform and joint venture of SAIL and Tata Steel -- said after successive months of negative growth in October and November, power demand staged a strong recovery in December with a 6.3 per cent growth.

"The tempo has been maintained with power consumption continuing to rise in January as well, due to a harsh winter and general improvement in economic activities," Varma said. "This, we believe, will boost coal demand in the coming days," he added.

The country's coal sector, after hitting a record one-billion-tonne production milestone, is staring at a surprise demand slowdown, forcing major public firms and new commercial miners to rethink expansion plans amid rising uncertainties.

Against this challenging landscape, mjunction will organise the 19th Indian Coal Markets Conference, "Coalosseum: The Coal Battleground" from February 24-25 in Kolkata. During the conference, top 36 eminent speakers from coal, power, cement, sponge iron, steel, trading, exchange, and logistics sectors will address various issues facing the coal and energy vertical in the country.

Coal is the mainstay of energy contributing more than 55% to India’s primary commercial energy, according to a report by Ministry of Coal. In total power generation, coal-fired power generation accounts for about 72%, and coal will remain an indispensable pillar of India’s energy security, along with steady advances in its clean energy transition as the coal provides reliable baseload power, supports critical industries such as steel & cement and plays a vital role in sustained economic growth and national development. The coal demand is expected to increase to about 1.5 Billion Tonne by 2030.

The coal production for 2024-25 increased by 4.98% over previous year to 1047.523 million tonnes. The country has witnessed highest ever coal production in the year 2024-25. The all India coal production in the year 2024-25 stood at 1047.523 MT in comparison to 997.826 MT in the year 2023-24 with a growth of about 4.98%.

The coal supply also increased from 973.01 Million Tonne in FY 2023-24 to 1025.33 Million Tonne in FY 2024-25 with a growth of about 5.38%. The country has witnessed a big leap in overall coal production from 565.77 Million Tonne in FY 2013-14 to 1047.52 MT in FY 2024-25.

In 2025 (January 2025 to December, 2025), the country has produced about 1042.90 MT (provisional) of coal as compared to about 1039.62 MT (provisional) coal during the same period of last year with a growth of about 0.23%.

In 2025 (up to 31st December, 2025), the country has supplied about 1016.14 MT (Provisional) of coal as compared to about 1013.59 MT (Provisional) coal during the same period of last year with a growth of about 0.25%.

There has been abundant and uninterrupted coal supply to the consumers as per their requirement in this period and there have no reports of coal shortages in the country

Vinaya Varma, Managing Director of mjunction services ltd -- a B2B e-commerce platform and joint venture of SAIL and Tata Steel -- said after successive months of negative growth in October and November, power demand staged a strong recovery in December with a 6.3 per cent growth