India set to overtake China as biggest thermal coal importer

Mumbai

INDIA is set to overtake China as the biggest importer of power-station coal, emerging as the leader of a clutch of regional nations that miners including Glencore plc and BHP Billiton can tap for new orders.

Indian thermal coal imports will surpass China's by 2017 or sooner, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts William Foiles and Andrew Cosgrove said in a report. China, the world's biggest energy consumer, is cutting down on coal use to fight pollution. India and its regional peers including Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea plan to increase their coal-fired generating capacity by more than 204 gigawatts, or 60 per cent, through 2019, it says.