India's Ministry of Steel and the Ministry of Coal Industry are in discussions to boost the share of domestic coking coal in the steel industry, aiming to reduce reliance on imports and cut costs, Indian news channel CNBC TV18 reported, citing an announcement by Sandeep Poundrik, secretary of the Ministry of Steel.

Poundrik highlighted that India's heavy dependence on coking coal imports has been a significant barrier to increasing domestic steel output.

He reassured that India has abundant iron ore reserves to meet both domestic demand and export requirements. However, coking coal, the most expensive raw material in steelmaking, remains a challenge, with 90% of it being imported, a reliance that is expected to grow in tandem with the expansion of steel production capacity.

India's coking coal imports are expected to surge 42% to 115 million tonnes by 2030, driven by escalating demand from the steel sector, according to the September forecast by the Indian Steel Association (ISA) and global consulting company EY Parthenon.

India aims to achieve 300 million tonnes of steel production capacity by fiscal year 2030-31, and further expand to 500 million tonnes by 2047. In FY2023-24, India imported 81 million tonnes of coking coal.

In addition, India plans to replace quantitative import restrictions on met coke with a definitive anti-dumping duty of approximately $125/t.