By Sadananda Mohapatra, Senior Business Journalist
Lead Story: Coking Coal supply issue leads to policy pivot
India’s steelmakers are facing a familiar but intensifying problem. The country sources between 85 and 90% of its coking coal requirements from overseas, and with global shipping lanes disrupted by the ongoing West Asia (Middle East) crisis, that dependence is costing more by the week. Coking coal is a specialised metallurgical input with very few domestic substitutes, making every spike in seaborne freight a direct hit on steel production costs.
The numbers from the just-concluded financial year tell the story clearly. India’s coking coal imports for the year ending March 2026 provisionally reached 66.25 million tonnes, an 11.8% jump over the previous year. March alone saw nearly 6 million tonnes arrive through major ports. Russian Kuzbass coking coal, which Indian mills had increasingly turned to as a cost-effective alternative to Australian supplies because of doscounts, spiked to between USD 150 and USD 160 per tonne on a freight-inclusive basis by late March. Import-dependent buyers began flagging warnings of artificial shortages emerging in the supply chain.
The industry’s response over the first two weeks of April came on two fronts simultaneously.
Bharat Coking Coal Limited, the coking coal subsidiary of state-owned Coal India Limited, moved quickly to buffer the market. It unveiled an April auction calendar offering 3.8 million tonnes of domestic coking coal through a single-window auction platform, explicitly positioned to counter elevated seaborne prices. During a bidders’ meet on April 6, cash-back incentives were introduced to accelerate offtake.
On the fuel substitution front, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd made headlines by scaling up coal gasification at its Angul plant in Odisha. The company has successfully produced synthetic gas from domestic coal and deployed it in its iron-making operations, pioneering its injection into blast furnaces in what executives described as a global first. The initiative directly reduces dependence on imported coking coal while lowering carbon emissions per tonne of steel produced.
The short-term playbook is now visible. Lean on domestic coking coal auctions for immediate relief, and back technology-driven substitution for longer-term independence. Whether these steps prove sufficient to keep steel production costs stable as summer freight pressures build will be the defining question for India’s steel sector.
Joules Capsule: Weekly Round-Up
Adani’s ₹84,000 Crore Coal-to-Chemicals Pivot
Adani Enterprises is set to fast-track India’s largest Coal-to-Chemicals (CTC) complex in Sundargarh, Odisha. The mega-project breathes new life into 3,047 acres originally acquired for a power plant scrapped in 2023. By leveraging coal gasification, the facility will convert coal into high-value methanol, ammonia, and olefins that are critical feedstocks for fertilizers and plastics and they need natural gas for production. This strategic shift reduces reliance on imported natural gas while promising a massive socio-economic boost for the eastern India state.
India’s Coal Reserves Buffer Grid Against Global Price Shocks
As global energy costs climb amid the West Asia (Middle East) conflict, India’s state-owned coal companies are absorbing input cost increases rather than passing them on to power producers or consumers. The government has built record coal stockpiles of 130 million tonnes at mines, with power plants holding enough reserves for 24 days of consumption. Daily coal transport capacity has been scaled to 2.55 million tonnes, backed by Indian Railways, as the grid prepares for a summer peak demand that could touch 270 gigawatts.
India’s Grid Enters Its Most Demanding Stretch of the Year
India’s grid handled an average peak demand of around 216 gigawatts last week, stepping up noticeably from the 213 gigawatts recorded the week before. The trend line is clear and it is only going one way. Grid India’s week-ahead forecast projects demand climbing further to between 224 and 227 gigawatts through the coming week, with no meaningful weekend relief in sight. April is traditionally when India’s summer cooling load shifts from manageable to relentless. The grid has held without shortages so far, but the real test of India’s generation and transmission capacity is just beginning.
Iran Crude Arrives at Paradip as India Navigates West Asia Crisis
Even as the West Asia (Middle East) conflict disrupts global shipping lanes, India continues to secure crude oil supplies through selective sourcing. The tanker MT Jaya arrived at Paradip Port in Odisha carrying 277,321 tonnes of crude oil originating from Kharg Island, Iran, destined for the Indian Oil Corporation’s Paradip refinery. It is the first such cargo from Iran in seven years, signalling that India is reviving a key supply relationship under crisis conditions while simultaneously pushing hard to reduce long-term import dependence through domestic alternatives.
About the Author:
Sadananda Mohapatra is a veteran business journalist with decades of experience covering India’s energy, industry, and economic landscape. With stints at reputed financial news publications like The Business Standard & NewsWire18, he reported extensively on India’s power sector, minerals policy, coal and energy regulation, and industrial developments — building a deep, ground-level understanding of the global energy economy. His work spans corporate affairs, infrastructure, and policy analysis, with a particular focus on eastern India’s resource-rich industrial corridor. He currently writes on the global energy landscape through his newsletter, The Joule’s Stack.
This article has been published with permission from the author, which appeared on Substack first.
