India imported around 14.9 million mt of coal at 21 major ports in March, up 41.7% from February, according to data released Monday by Indian ship broker Interocean.
The March imports included 11.3 million mt of thermal coal, up 35.9% from February, and 3.6 million mt of coking coal, up 63.4%.
Mundra port on India's west coast received the highest coal shipments last month at 3.7 million mt, up 56.9% from February. It also received the highest steam coal shipments at 11.3 million mt, up 36% from February.
Paradip port on the east coast received the most coking coal last month at 751,987 mt up 14.4% on the month.
The surveyed ports were: Kandla, Mundra, Bhavnagar, Pipavav, Bedi, Magdalla, Dahej, Dharamtar, Haji Bunder, Jaigarh, Goa, Mangalore, Tuticorin, Ennore, Karaikal, Krishnapatnam, Kakinada, Gangavaram, Vizag, Paradip and Haldia.
Most of the coal was imported from Indonesia, South Africa, Australia and the US. Adani Enterprises, Bhatia Coal, JSW Group, Coastal Energy and Steel Authority of India Limited were the main importers.