In a move to reduce import dependency for coal, the power ministry is exploring the option of equipping thermal plants run on fuel from broad to use certain quantities of domestic fuel also. Currently, as many as 17 power-generation units, with combined capacity of 17.97 giga watt (GW) operate on imported coal, and play a significant role during peak summer seasons in tacking power shortages.

The ministry, according to official sources, is getting a feasibility study done on whether these power plants can use a certain amount of local coal and still run efficiently. The hybrid model will require capital investments, but an estimate of this could be made only after a technical assessment, which will be part of the feasibility study.

“The ministry has assigned this task (exploring feasbility) to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the work has already started,” an official said, highlighting that while imported-coal based plants can consume domestic coal up to certain levels, the entire engine of the power plant cannot be run by domestic coal.

Furthermore, the coal ministry has offered around 10 million tonnes of high grade coal to the power ministry for the study and to substitute imported coal with domestic coal.

“The coal ministry has offered 4 million tonnes of high grade coal from Eastern Coalfield Ltd and 6 million tonnes from South Eastern Coalfield Ltd to the power ministry for substitution of imported coal with domestic coal,” the source said, adding that if domestic coal can be used post the feasibility study, the coal ministry may convert it into supply contracts.

Last year, the then coal minister Pralhad Joshi had said that the coal ministry is likely to request imported-coal based power plants to make changes to their technologies and design to be able to use domestic coal in the next two years. “The country will have surplus coal in the next two years and we will request imported coal based plants to change their technology and design,” Joshi had said while adding that the government is trying to address the logistic and other issues in coal production and all said and done, there will be no need for imported coal stock.

Due to high ash content in the coal produced domestically, imported-coal based power plants are not able to use the indigenous coal and have to depend on imports. There are 17 imported-coal based power plants in the country of which four reported having a critical stock as on March 29, latest data from the CRA showed. A plant is said to have a critical stock situation when the dry fuel is less than 25% of the normative (ideal) level.

The government has already charted out a plan to reduce the import of coal that is indigenously available to nil by FY26.

As per the official data from the ministry of coal, the country imported 183.42 million tonnes of coal during April to December of FY25 compared with 200.19 million tonnes in the same period last fiscal. During FY24, total imports stood at 264.53 million tonnes. Imports of coking coal during the first nine months of FY25 stood at 42.75 million tonnes, down from 44.39 million tonnes in the same period the previous fiscal. In FY24, the country imported 58.81 million tonnes of coking coal.

The country’s coal production has increased owing to several measures taken by the government to increase domestic availability including auctioning of new mines.

For the current fiscal 2024-25, the government has set a target of 1.08 billion tonnes of coal output. As of March 20, the country has already surpassed the 1 billion tonnes production mark, 11 days ahead of the previous fiscal year’s coal production of 997.83 million tonnes. The government has projected coal production to reach 1.13 billion tonnes in the upcoming financial year 2025-26, according to the sources.