The country had imported 227.23 MT of coal in the year-ago period, according to a report by mjunction services.

mjunction -- a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL -- is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals. "For April-February 2020-21, total coal and coke imports stood at 196.13 MT, about 13.69 per cent lower than 227.23 MT imported during April-February 2019-20," it said.

During April-February 2020-21, non-coking coal import was at 128.91 MT, against 157.59 MT during the year-ago period. Coking coal import was recorded at 43.98 MT, lower than 45.17 MT imported during the same period a year ago.

Coal import in February 2021 stood at 15.29 MT as against 22.68 MT in the year-ago period. Of the total imports in February, non-coking coal was at 9.07 MT, against 16.94 MT in the same month last year. Coking coal import was at 4.82 MT, as against 4.02 MT imported in February last fiscal.

"The sharp decline in import volumes in February was due to a significant fall in thermal coal imports amid firm prices and high freight rates in the international markets.

"In line with market expectation, the country's coal and coke import is going to see a substantial drop and may close the year with a volume of 210-215 million tonnes," Vinaya Varma, MD and CEO, mjunction services, said.