India Becomes Coal Superpower, Overtakes USA

NEW DELHI: India will be a global coal production bright spot with the country increasing global market share of output from 10.1 per cent in 2016 to 13.1 per cent by 2020.

In 2016, the country will surpass the United States to become the second largest coal producing country in the world, second only to China, despite remaining a net importer of the mineral, BMI Research said.

The government’s desire to attain self-sufficiency in coal in order to improve domestic electricity provision will see state-owned Coal IndiaBSE -3.44 % (CIL) to remain the country’s largest producer. The miner produced 536.5 million tonnes (MT) of coal in the fiscal ending March 31 2016, representing a growth of 8.6 per cent y-o-y, which is their highest annual tonnage increase since inception.