The National Coal Index (NCI) rose 3.83 points to 143.91 in September amid growing demand for coal.
The Union Coal ministry on Tuesday said this is the first increase in the index since April 2023. “This incline was influenced by the temporary rise of coal prices in global markets,” it said.
NCI is a price index combining the prices of coal from all the sales channels, notified prices, auction prices, and import prices. It is used to determine the premium, on a per-tonne basis or revenue share on a percentage basis based on a market-based mechanism.
According to the ministry, the upward movement in the index indicates rising demand for coal because of the upcoming festive season and winter in the country, which will encourage coal producers to take maximum benefit by further scaling up domestic coal production to meet the growing energy demands.
The National Coal Index (NCI) was rolled out on 4 June 2020 and it is a price index that reflects the change in price of coal on a particular month relative to the fixed base year.
In the past few months, India has witnessed an increase in demand for coal, largely from the power sector with surging power demand. Imports of coal by power plants have also continued as the power ministry has mandated all gencos to blend imported coal.
Far in FY24 (April-October) India has produced 507.01 million metric tonne of coal with a 13.02% year-on-year growth. The government aims to take the annual production this fiscal to $1 billion tonne.
The captive and commercial mines have so far produced 75.94 million tonnes and are expected to reach 162 million tonnes by the end of the fiscal.
In FY23, India had produced 893.19 million tonne coal with a 14.77% growth over the previous year.