In Australian coal miners’ woes, a warning for India

In the long run, India must cut its reliance on coking coal and consider alternative technology routes

India’s push to build more blast furnaces to meet its growing demand for steel raises a critical concern: It will result in increased imports of metallurgical coal. Industry leaders highlighted the risks of such import reliance at the Indian Steel Association’s Coking Coal Summit in September.

India is currently dependent on imports for around 90 per cent of its metallurgical coal needs, and in the first eight months of 2025, nearly half of it came from Australia.