India's dependence on coking coal imports from Australia has decreased to 54% in 2025, down from 73% in 2019. This information was presented in a report from the Ministry of Steel to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
Coking Coal Imports and India's Steel Industry Needs
About 90% of India's coking coal needs, which is a key raw material for steel production via the BF-BOF method, is met through imports. The high dependence is due to existing limitations in accessing high-quality, low-ash coking coal in India. Meanwhile, Australia remains the largest source of coking coal imports for India. However, the share of other countries in this market is increasing. The share of imports from Russia has risen from 0.62% to 8.15%, from the United States from 8% to 17%, from Mozambique from 4% to 7.31%, and from Indonesia from 2.46% to 4%.
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New Statistics and Analyses from the Coking Coal Market
In the fiscal year 2025, India's steel sector imported 58 million tons of coking coal, an increase from 57 million tons in the fiscal year 2024. The cost of these imports is estimated at around 1.5 lakh crore rupees. Under the "Atmanirbhar Coal Mission," the goal is to increase domestic coking coal production to 140 million tons by 2030. Of this amount, 105 million tons should be sourced from Coal India Limited and another 35 million tons from private allocations. This program also aims to increase the share of domestic coal in steel production from 10% to 30%.
Globally, high-quality coking coal is concentrated in a few specific countries. Australia accounts for over 50% of commercially traded coking coal internationally, due to its high-quality reserves, sustainable extraction ecosystem, and efficient logistics.
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