New Delhi,  Even as the government has been forced to import 8 million tonnes of coal for this fiscal, Minister for Coal Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said that India's dry fuel production will touch 900 million tonnes in the current fiscal.

All efforts are being made by Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries to achieve this goal, he said at a function here.

The target is ambitious, considering the fact that CIL's production in 2021-22 was 622 million tonnes.

However what is more significant is the fact that owing to a huge spike in demand, for the first time ever in its history, CIL - which is the largest producer of dry fuel in the country - has been forced to import the commodity.

In June, CIL had issued three tenders for importing 2.4 million tonnes and 3 million tonnes each of coal, respectively.

While the tender for importing 2.4 milion tonnes of coal was for the July-September period of this fiscal, the other two tenders for seeking 6 million tonnes of dry fuel were till June 2023.

Till now, CIL has imported 300,000 tonnes of coal, sources said.

The reason why CIL was forced to import coal, which is not its mandate, was due to shortage in the country owing to rising power demand.

It was mainly done for power generating companies (gencos) owing to shortfall in the domestic supply chain, and also, as the government is emphasising on blending imported coal with domestic dry fuel to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the country.

So now, in a paradoxical situation with the country having adequate supply of coal and the government expecting CIL to ensure record production this fiscal, it has been forced not only to import coal but also the imported dry fuel is lying at various ports with no buyers coming forward to take it.