New Delhi: During the current year 2017-18, the growth in supply of coal to power sector is 7.2%, based on the rising demand of coal based generating stations. As estimated by the Ministry of Power, the Pan India growth of coal based generation would be 5.4% to 5.7% in the current year & next four years.
As an alternative energy source, the Government has up-scaled the target of Renewable Energy capacity to 175 GW by the year 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from Bio-power and 5 GW from Small Hydro power. So far a total of 64.31 GW capacity has been installed through the implementation of various renewable energy schemes/ programmes upto 31st January 2018 which includes 32.88 GW from Wind, 18.45 GW from Solar, 8.53 GW from Bio-power and 4.45 GW from Small Hydro Power. However, coal will continue to remain the major energy source in the short to medium term.
The details of all India import of coal during the last three years is given below:
| Import of Coal (in Mte.) | ||||
| Year | Coking | Non Coking | Total | |
| 2014-15 | 43.71 | 174.07 | 217.78 | |
| 2015-16 | 44.56 | 159.39 | 203.95 | |
| 2016-17 (Prov.) | 41.64 | 149.31 | 190.95 | |
This information was given by the Minister of Railways and Coal Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
