Coal India Ltd ready for mass export to neighbouring country

Coal India Ltd, the world’s biggest and most important coal miner, will directly export to neighbouring countries, after decades of exclusively supplying domestic consumers, according to sources.

The company will export to strategically important neighbours such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, according to a draft policy sent to the secretary of India’s coal ministry, as a part of India’s “neighbourhood first” policy, which seeks to counter China’s growing economic influence in South Asia.

This was proposed in Oct 2020, in internal meetings for corporate strategy and was confirmed by Coal India’s chairman, although a critical coal shortage in India now means the first such shipments would be unlikely until the end of this year.

“We would have ideally wanted to start exporting this financial year (ending March 2022), if not for the energy crisis,” To which the chairman of Coal India Chairman stated, ‘noting the current priority was to address domestic demand’. Under the proposal “3 percent of Coal India’s annual production will be earmarked separately for exports” with the main focus on encouraging bulk trade for the long-term.

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