NEW DELHI: India's coal import rose by 13.2 per cent to 26.10 million tonne (MT) in April 2024 as buyers took fresh positions amid early onset of summer.

The country had imported 23.05 MT of coal in the year-ago period, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce company mjunction services ltd.

This comes amid coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy stating that India should increase domestic production of the fossil fuel and reduce coal imports.

"India's coal and coke imports in April 2024 through the major and non-major ports increased by 13.2 per cent over April 2023," the data showed.

Of the total import in April, non-coking coal import stood at 17.40 MT against 15.15 MT in the year-ago month. Coking coal import was 4.97 MT against 4.77 MT.

"There was an increase in volumes...Going ahead, there may be continued demand from both the power and non-regulated sectors due to pre-monsoon restocking," mjunction MD & CEO Vinaya Varma said.

Coal imports in April were up by 8.93 per cent as against March when imports stood at 23.96 MT.

India's coal import rose by 7.7 per cent to 268.24 MT in FY24 driven by softness in seaborne prices and likelihood of increase in power demand during summer.

The country's coal import was 249.06 MT in FY23.