India's power generators saw their thermal coal imports rise for the third consecutive month in March, to a new high since October 2022.
India's power producers imported 4.79 million tonnes of thermal coal in March, jumping 68.72% from 2.84 million tonnes in the same month last year and 55.09% from 3.09 million tonnes in February, data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
Among all imported all by power companies last month, 2.06 million tonnes were directly burned, up 9.96% year on year and 59.32% month on month, and 2.73 million tonnes were blended with domestic coal, surging 182.96% year on year and 52.05% from a month ago.
In March, the proportion of coal imported by Indian power companies for mix accounted for 57% of the total, down from 58.1% in February.
Among power companies blending imported coal with the domestic cargoes, 6 state-owned power enterprises imported 1.97 million tonnes and 10 private enterprises imported 511,200 tonnes; among those directing burning imported coal for power generation, one state-owned enterprise imported 41,900 tonnes and 11 private power enterprises imported 2.02 million tonnes.
In March, NTPC imported most thermal coal, at 1.73 million tonnes, followed by Essar, at 384,200 tonnes.
In this fiscal (April 2022-March 2023), Indian power companies imported 55.63 million tonnes of thermal coal, a 106% jump from a year ago. About 20.53 million tonnes were directly burned in this period, and 35.1 million tonnes were blended with domestic supplies.
(Writing by Rebecca Liu Editing by Emma Yang)
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