Indian Steel Minister: Promote diversification of coking coal imports to ensure stable development of the steel industry

 The Indian steel minister recently said that the Indian steel industry is actively promoting the diversification of coking coal import sources to reduce its high dependence on Australia and improve the security of raw material supply.

Currently, about 85% of India's coking coal is imported, of which more than half comes from Australia. As India plans to increase its steel production capacity from the current 200 million tons to 300 million tons by 2030, the demand for coking coal is expected to increase significantly, and imports are expected to increase from 58 million tons per year to 160 million tons.

In order to cope with the upcoming huge demand, the Indian government is taking a series of measures, including encouraging domestic steel companies to acquire overseas coking coal and iron ore resources, actively exploring the possibility of importing coking coal from countries such as Mongolia, and promoting the development and utilization of domestic coking coal resources. At the same time, India has also launched the "Coking Coal Mission", with the goal of increasing the proportion of domestic coking coal use from the current 10% to 30% by 2030.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called on the steel industry to actively develop alternative technologies, such as direct reduced iron (DRI) process and coal gasification technology, to reduce dependence on imported coking coal.

The Indian government said these measures will help enhance the steel industry's raw material security capabilities and support the long-term sustainable development of India's manufacturing industry.