CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – India’s growing economy is hungry for coal, with a huge demand for imported coal, delegates attending the IHS Markit South African Coal Export Conference, in Cape Town, have heard.

Adani Enterprises COO for Coal Trading Rajendra Singh said the Indian government was investing heavily in infrastructure, and forging ahead with reforms in banking and taxation. 

Its coal needs were increasing rapidly, with the increase driven in part by good cement and steel prices.

“India’s appetite for energy is growing. There’s no doubt about it,” said Singh.

“In the past three years, power has grown from 650 units to 1 000 units per capita. It’s forecast to go up by 50% in the next three to five years. The simple fact is that we have a demand of 75-million to 80-million tons of coal.  We have to fill the gaps with imported coal,” said Singh. 

He said this held good opportunities for South African coal exporters.

Adani Enterprises is heavily involved in coal mining and trading as well as natural gas distribution. It is part of the Adani Group, one of India’s leading business houses with revenue of over $12-billion.

Singh said power demand in India had increased rapidly in the last few months alone.

“We are seeing that this government is very serious about kicking off infrastructure [development] in India. Over the next three to four years, we will see extremely good prospects for investing in infrastructure.”

Singh acknowledged that renewables were an important part of the energy mix, but described them as “fashionable”.

“Let’s not shy away from the fact that raw materials for renewables are available at a cheaper price because of highly subsidised exports.”

He said battery power was also a challenge, particularly when supplying power during peak demand.

Coal makes up about 76% of India’s energy mix, said Singh. “This ratio will continue because it’s more reliable and cheaper,” he suggested.

“While we have to strike a balance with the environment, we can’t ignore people who need electricity. India only has one tenth of the energy consumption of the US. We can’t ignore poor people. We need more energy.”

He said this was a reality, with India’s burgeoning youthful population increasingly moving to urban areas.

“If we want to improve the life of the common man, we need to burn more coal . . . that is the reality.”

Singh told the conference that increased demand for coal was also coming from other Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Myanmar.

He acknowledged that while there was much opportunity in India’s energy system, it needed to sort out its problems in distribution.