India's power sector thermal coal imports rose for a third consecutive month in June 2026, reaching their highest level in a year, though remaining well below year-ago levels.

Imports by Indian power utilities stood at 4.69 million tonnes in June, down 7.89% year on year but up 14.96% from the previous month, showed data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

Of the total, 4.02 million tonnes were for plants running solely on imported coal, down 5.35% year on year but up 9.87% month on month. Another 666,400 tonnes were for blending with domestic coal, down 20.75% from a year earlier but surging 59.54% from a month ago, accounting for 14.21% of total imports.

Among utilities blending imported coal, two state-owned firms imported 316,400 tonnes and four private companies brought in 350,000 tonnes. For plants using only imported coal, one state-owned utility imported 50,500 tonnes and 14 private firms imported 3.97 million tonnes.

Adani Group's Mundra plant was the largest importer in June at 1.25 million tonnes, followed by the UMTPP plant in Mundra, Gujarat, at 1.11 million tonnes.

For the April-June period of the 2026-27 fiscal year, Indian power utilities imported a total of 10.50 million tonnes of coal, down 14.78% from 12.33 million tonnes in the same period of the 2025-26 fiscal year.