With coal demand rising by over 10% annually and domestic supplies rising just 3-4%, India’s coal imports have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 23% over the past five years. In terms of rupees, the increase in coal imports has been about 15% (CAGR) during these years.The coal import bill soared a whopping 75% between 2008-09 and 2012-13. In April-December last year, the period up to which data are available, India imported coal worth R64,852 crore ($11.9 billion), up 72% over the same period five years ago. As a share of the current account deficit, however,