UPSC Prelims 2012 · Question 84 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2012 question on Coal Imports India
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2012
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectIndian Economy
- TopicIndustry
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeStatement
Despite having large reserves of coal, why does India import millions of tonnes of coal?
1. It is the policy of India to save its own coal reserves for future, and import it from other countries for the present use.
2. Most of the power plants in India are coal-based and they are not able to get sufficient supplies of coal from within the country.
3. Steel companies need large quantity of coking coal which has to be imported.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 and 3 only
Verdict
Correct Answer: 2 and 3 only
Analysis
India imports coal despite having large reserves because domestic supply is not always sufficient and India lacks enough good-quality coking coal for steel production.
Statement by statement
1. It is the policy of India to save coal for the future — Incorrect
India does not import coal because it wants to preserve domestic coal for the future.
This is not the policy reason. India is trying to increase domestic coal production and reduce import dependence.
2. Most of the power plants in India are coal-based and they are not able to get sufficient supplies of coal from within the country — Correct
India’s electricity demand is high, and many thermal power plants depend on coal.
Domestic production, transport bottlenecks, and regional supply gaps sometimes make coal imports necessary, especially for coastal power plants.
3. Steel companies need large quantity of coking coal which has to be imported — Correct
Coking coal is essential for steel production in blast furnaces.
India has limited reserves of good-quality coking coal. Most Indian coal is non-coking and has high ash content, so steel companies import coking coal.
Extra UPSC info
* Indian coal is generally high in ash content and has lower calorific value than imported coal.
* Thermal coal is mainly used for power generation.
* Coking coal is mainly used in the iron and steel industry.
* Coal imports are driven by demand-supply gap, quality issues, and logistics.
* India has promoted commercial coal mining and higher domestic production to reduce import dependence.
How to crack it
India imports coal not to save domestic coal for the future, but because domestic supply and coking coal quality are insufficient for power generation and steelmaking.