FILE – A woman works at a coal depot in Ahmedabad, India | Photo credit: Ajit Solanki

India’s coal production increased by 10.8% in December 2022 to nearly 83 million tonnes (MT), from 74.8 MT a year earlier, as coal shipped from mines to consuming industries increased by 5.28% to reach almost 79 MT.

According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Coal, December 2022 was the second consecutive month of double-digit growth in coal production. Production levels for the first nine months of 2022-23 were 16.4% higher at 608 MT, compared to 522.34 MT produced in the same period of 2021-22.

Coal production has a 10.33% weighting in the Basic Industries Index (ICI), which in turn constitutes around 40% of the Industrial Production Index (IIP).

Coal production growth had slowed from 12% in September to 3.7% in October, as basic sectors grew by only 0.9% and PII showed a decline of 4% Indian industrial production.

In November, coal was one of the three main sectors to register double-digit growth, with production up 12.3%. electricity production increased by 12.1% while cement production increased by 28.6%, even though the eight basic sectors recorded growth of 5.4% in November.

Coal shipments to power utilities increased by 4.26% to 65.65 MT in December 2022, the ministry said.