Coal news and updates

Re not at immediate risk from coal imports: Analyst

October 29: Even as India’s coal imports are set to surge due to a shortage in domestic supplies, there is no immediate threat to the rupee’s value in the international market, an industry analyst told ICMW.

“We don’t see any immediate pressure on the rupee (Re). Despite a sharp increase in the trade deficit numbers in recent months, there has not been much of an impact yet,” the analyst said.

“At this point, the surge in gold imports is of greater concern and so is the lack of adequate growth in exports. Coal imports, even if they increase, will only have a limited impact,” he opined.

Recent data shows that trade deficit (merchandise) for the month of September, 2014 provisionally rose 132.71 percent to $14,247.42 million compared to $6,122.34 million reported in the same month a year ago.

The increase was mainly due to a rise in imports without adequate rise in exports. Imports have increased mainly due to an unusual growth of 449.7 percent in imports of gold and 105.6 percent in imports of metalliferous ores and other minerals over the same period last year, official data shows.