India won’t need to import coal by 2017: Coal Minister
The Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal addressing at the Enrich 2015 - KPMG in India’s Annual Energy Conclave, in New Delhi on Monday.India is expected to be self-sufficient in energy production by 2017 and will no longer have to import coal to meet its domestic requirement, except for the costal power plants, Coal and Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. Speaking at the ENRich 2015, India’s annual energy conclave organised by KPMG, Goyal said, “By 2017, India should not need to import thermal coal except for the coastal power plants. Era of shortages is over in coal sector.” Goyal stressed that India’s economy will register a phenomenal growth, riding high on the government’s structural changes, pro-developmental initiatives taken in the last 18 months and further rolling out of several strategic plans. He assured of the government’s unprecedented support in the country’s holistic development and said that his ministry would contribute towards the nation’s growth through new initiatives in the field of energy security. Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, pointed out the role of energy security and accessibility in well-being of the nation, and said, “It is important that we identify the energy requirements and accordingly come up with a vision plan, making it our focus for the coming years. A comprehensive energy policy is the need of the hour.” Goyal also released the report, titled ‘The Rising Sun – Disruption on the horizon’, which highlighted that solar power could be a huge energy source by 2025. “With the market penetration of solar power expected to be 5.7% (54 GW) by 2020 and 12.5% (166GW) by 2025. India aims to reduce emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 levels, and solar power is likely to contribute 4% towards this target,” the report said. India is among the top three coal producing countries after China and the US. Still it has to import the fuel to meet its domestic requirement. In 2014-15, the total coal imports were more than 212 million tonnes worth around Rs.1 lakh crore. The government aims to reach 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production by 2020.
November 16, 2015 |5:00pm IST.
to success.