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India is increasing the use of domestic fuel to more than 50% at power plants designed to run on imported coal, as the world’s second-largest thermal coal importer seeks to curb costly overseas purchases, government and industry officials said.
The country is already using domestic coal to operating 5.7 gigawatts capacity so far this year of the total 18.7 GW capacity at imported coal-based power vegetation, they said.
Trials are underway to expand the switch to another 4.3 GW of capacity.
Import-based coal vegetation have previously relied on coal from Indonesia, South Africa and Russia, among others. Imports from Indonesia and South Africa fell about 21% and 68%, respectively, in January through April from a year earlier, data from Indian coal trader iEnergy Natural Resources shows.
Higher power generation from renewable sources is freeing up domestic fuel supplies, allowing greater regional coal to be diverted to coastal vegetation that were built to run on imports.
India has to years tried to decrease coal imports to power generation, however efforts were constrained because imported coal-based vegetation were designed to higher-grade fuel and struggled to process reduce-condition domestic supplies.
Operators have gradually modified units to handle greater volumes of regional coal, which has higher ash content, one government official said.
The companies are using a mix of imported and domestic supplies to optimise operations, with some facilities now using as much as 70% regional coal, the sources said. “The coal ministry has offered doorstep supply to imported-coal vegetation, which could take care of the condition and quantity needed without any issues,” another official said.
Imported coal-based vegetation have already booked 16 million metric tons of domestic coal to their needs, a third official said.
The officials could not be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
India’s coal-fired generation rose 10% in might from a year earlier, the highest development since might 2024, as utilities increased generation to meet electricity demand, Grid-India data showed.
India’s thermal coal imports fell to a four-year low of 65 million metric tonnes in January to might due to higher regional output and rising renewable energy generation, commodities consultancy BigMint said last week.
India’s power ministry and the coal ministry did not respond to Reuters’ inquiries.
Published on June 24, 2026
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