Coal India

July 20 (Reuters) - KPI Green Energy Ltd KPIG.NS:

• KPI GREEN ENERGY - COMMISSIONS 200 MW (AC) / 269 MW (DC) SOLAR FOR COAL INDIA AT KHAVDA

Source text: ID:nBSE6cfW4Q

Further company coverage: KPIG.NS

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July 17 (Reuters) - Ahasolar Technologies Ltd AHAS.BO:

• RECEIVES CONSULTANCY WORK ORDER FROM COAL INDIA FOR 187.5 MW/750 MWH BESS PROJECT

• CONSULTANCY SERVICE PRICED AT MORE THAN 3.5 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE9lxStr

Further company coverage: AHAS.BO

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July 16 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• COAL INDIA - COMMISSIONING OF 200 MW SOLAR POWER CAPACITY OUT OF 300 MW SOLAR POWER PROJECT AT KHAVDA, GUJARAT

Source text: ID:nBSE4FrrFq

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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** Shares of Coal India COAL.NS up 0.23% at 435.10 rupees

** Co reported provisional coal production down 0.6% y/y and offtake up 7.5% y/y in June

SUMMER DEMAND SUPPORTS OUTLOOK

** Morgan Stanley ("equal-weight", PT: 420 rupees) expects strong thermal power demand to support Coal India's dispatches in coming months, but says production growth should be monitored

** Axis Capital ("add", PT: 485 rupees) says higher e-auction premiums and elevated international coal prices should support profitability, even as rising costs could partly offset the benefits

** Emkay ("add", PT: 475 rupees) expects production to recover in the second half of FY27 as inventory levels normalise, backed by firm electricity demand and tighter seaborne coal markets

** UBS ("buy", PT: 550 rupees) says stronger electricity demand lifted June offtake despite a decline in production, signalling healthy coal movement and inventory drawdown

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru)

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July 1 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• COAL INDIA - RECEIVES ORDER TO SET UP 600 MW SOLAR PLANT AT JALAUN SOLAR PARK UP

• COAL INDIA - ESTIMATED PROJECT COST FOR 600 MW SOLAR PLANT IS 28.31 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE42nRbk

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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June 30 (Reuters) - Coal India COAL.NS plans to invest 19 billion rupees ($200.7 million) in research and development by fiscal year 2030, the state-run miner said on Tuesday.

Here are some details:

• The miner is researching clean coal, net-zero technologies, sustainable materials, mine re-purposing, and recovery of rare earth and critical minerals through partnerships with scientific institutions.

• Coal India has committed 2.53 billion rupees to three Indian Institutes of Technology, it said, which will be released in phases.

• Its R&D facility, called the National Centre for Coal and Energy Research, is also overseeing 19 R&D projects with a total outlay of 2.25 billion rupees at other scientific institutions.

• Coal India's R&D expenditure quadrupled to 2.45 billion rupees in fiscal 2025, from 610 million rupees a year earlier, it said.

($1 = 94.6675 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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By Sethuraman N R

NEW DELHI, June 18 (Reuters) - India's thermal coal imports fell to a 4-year low in January-May due to higher local output and rising renewable energy generation, commodities consultancy BigMint said.

Overall, thermal coal imports, at 65 million tons in the year till May, declined by an annual 12%, the consultancy said.

India, the world's second-largest importer of thermal coal, has been seeking to reduce its reliance on imports and aims to cut the use of such coal for power generation by at least 30% this year.

The country's top producer, Coal India COAL.NS, had asked its subsidiaries to ramp up output as scorching temperatures due to the El Nino weather pattern increased electricity use.

Higher prices for imported coal and elevated freight rates due to the crisis in the Middle East also weighed on imports, BigMint said.

RISING RENEWABLE GENERATION

In January-May total power generation increased 5% from a year earlier, while renewable generation grew much faster at 22%, BigMint said.

India's peak power demand, a measure of the maximum electricity requirement, exceeded the country's expectations of 270 gigawatts on May 21, driven by heat waves.

Power demand in the South Asian nation climbed 11.2% to a two-year high in May, data from federal grid regulator Grid-India showed.

Thermal power generation rose 10% from a year earlier in the month, the highest since May 2024, as utilities ramped up output to meet round-the-clock electricity demand, the regulator's data showed.

During the month, India's renewable power generation rose 29.31% from the previous year to 27.58 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for a record 17.9% of the country's power mix, according to a Reuters analysis of daily government data.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; editing by Nidhi Verma and Harikrishnan Nair)

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** UBS initiates miner Coal India COAL.NS with "buy"; street-high PT of 550 rupees

** Brokerage positive on India's medium-to-long term coal demand given lower import dependency, scope to increase domestic production

** COAL will benefit from India's increasing electricity demand as coal-based power generation dominates mix - brokerage

** Targeting 1 bln MTPA production by FY30, implying 7% CAGR over FY26-30 - brokerage

** COAL benefits from strong pricing power in e-auction segment - providing partial buffer when costs are inflated - brokerage

** Stock on avg rated "buy" by 24 analysts; median PT is 490 rupees - LSEG-compiled data

** COAL up 0.34%; YTD up 11.5%

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru)

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June 5 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• COAL INDIA - TAKES STEPS TO OFFER MORE COAL TO NRS

• COAL INDIA - CIL OFFERS 35 MILLION TONNES COAL UNDER LINKAGE AUCTION ON 12 JUNE

• COAL INDIA - CIL HAS PUT ON OFFER AN ALL-TIME HIGH OF 35 MILLION TONNES (MTS) UNDER LINKAGE AUCTION WINDOW TO BE HELD ON 12TH JUNE

• COAL INDIA - CIL WILL BE CONDUCTING NEXT ROUND OF SHORT- TERM AUCTIONS ON 8 JUNE

• COAL INDIA - CIL OFFERS 13.75 MILLION TONNES COAL TO STEEL (COKING) SUB-SECTOR

• COAL INDIA - ALLOWED STEEL (COKING) SUB-SECTOR TO SELL COAL MIDDLINGS IN OPEN MARKET

Source text: ID:nBSE4vVCxR

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

(([email protected];))

** State-owned miner Coal India COAL.NS posted an 11.6% decline in May coal production, while coal offtake increased 2.2% Y/Y

** COAL shares down as much as 1.95% to 463.2 rupees

DEMAND OUTLOOK OFFSETS WEAK OUTPUT

** Emkay ("add"; PT: 475 rupees) says COAL's weak May production reflected comfortable inventory levels, expects output to accelerate through FY27 on the back of strong power demand

** Dolat Capital ("accumulate"; PT: 500 rupees) says COAL's May performance was subdued despite stronger coal-fired power demand, though higher global coal prices could support e-auction premiums and realizations

** Axis Capital ("add"; PT: 500 rupees) says declining Indonesian coal exports and higher global coal prices could support COAL's e-auction realizations and volume growth in FY27

** ICICI Direct Research says softer e-auction allocations and premiums could weigh on near-term growth, though it remains positive on Coal India over the longer term

** YTD stock up 18.13%

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru)

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June 1 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• COAL INDIA - COAL OFFTAKE IN MAY UP 2.2% Y/Y

• COAL INDIA- COAL PRODUCTION IN MAY DOWN 11.6% Y/Y

Source text: ID:nBSE1x39B3

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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May 26 (Reuters) - The Indian government will sell a stake of up to 2% in Coal India COAL.NS via an offer for sale, an exchange filing showed on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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BHUBANESWAR, May 14 (Reuters) - One person was killed and 11 others injured after an air blast at an Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) mine in Asansol in West Bengal state, local police said on Thursday.

Around 120 workers were present in an underground mine when the blast happened, Dhruba Das, a senior police officer told Reuters, adding that the rescue operations have been completed.

Mines operations were not impacted, an ECL official told Reuters. ECL is a unit of state-run miner Coal India COAL.NS.

Economic Times newspaper reported earlier that at least 40 mine workers were injured in the accident.

(Reporting by Jatindra Dash and Hritam Mukherjee)

(([email protected]; @MukherjeeHritam;))

Adds details, background

By Sethuraman N R

NEW DELHI, May 13 (Reuters) - India's cabinet approved a 375 billion rupee ($3.92 billion) scheme to boost coal gasification projects, reducing reliance on imported fuels and channelling domestic coal into cleaner industrial uses, Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The cabinet decision seeks to encourage the conversion of coal into synthetic gas that can be used to produce power, fertiliser, petrochemical among other industrial applications.

That, in turn, would help reduce India's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), urea, ammonia and methanol, Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

The scheme comes as India's gas imports have been impacted by the Middle East crisis.

Several countries, including the United States and China, are also exploring coal gasification technologies as part of efforts to cut emissions while continuing to rely on coal for energy security.

India, which has one of the world's largest coal reserves of 401 billion tons and 47 billion tons of lignite, aims to gasify about 75 million metric tons of coal annually, Vaishnaw said, with the scheme expected to bring investments of about 3 trillion rupees.

Under the plan, the government will provide financial assistance of around 20% of the cost of plant and machinery.

Interest in the sector is expanding among power producers. State-run power producer NTPC is looking to enter the coal gasification business, with plans to produce between 5 million and 10 million tonnes per annum of synthetic gas over the next three to four years, Reuters reported last year.

India had in 2024 approved an 85-billion-rupee coal gasification incentive scheme.

($1 = 95.7700 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR, Hritam Mukherjee and CK Nayak
Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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May 7 (Reuters) -

• INDIA GOVERNMENT TO DIVEST 3%-4% STAKE IN COAL INDIA WORTH 100 BILLION RUPEES VIA OFFER FOR SALE - CNBC-TV18

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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May 5 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• COAL INDIA - RECEIVES COMMISSIONING CERTIFICATE FOR 100 MW SOLAR POWER PLANT IN GUJARAT

Source text: ID:nNSE6vq1XP

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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** Shares of Coal India COAL.NS rise 3.7% to 469.05 rupees

** The state-owned miner beats Q4 profit, helped by higher prices and pickup in demand from customers ahead of peak summer season

** Gas supply shortfall linked to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran also lifted coal consumption as an alternative

** Jefferies expects stronger power demand growth in FY27, due to high chances of intense summer and El Nino, as lower rainfall typically boosts agricultural and residential power use

** Emkay - In Q4, COAL's strong e‑auction realizations it cooled sequentially due to lower reserve prices but premiums are expected to sustain around 55% through FY27-28

** Analysts have a "hold" rating on avg; median PT is 440 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, COAL up 14.3%

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

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April 27 (Reuters) - State-owned miner Coal India COAL.NS reported a larger-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, driven by higher prices and a pickup in demand from customers ahead of peak summer season, as a gas supply shortfall linked to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran lifted coal consumption.

The company reported consolidated net profit of 108.39 billion rupees ($1.15 billion), higher than analyst expectations of 92.24 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

• The company's consolidated net profit rose 11.2% to 108.39 billion Indian rupees in the quarter ended March 31, from 97.52 billion rupees a year earlier.

• India relies on coal for three-fourths of its electricity generation. Higher power consumption during the winter, as well as a warm February and heatwave conditions in March, contributed to power usage in the quarter.

• Consolidated revenue from operations rose nearly 6% to 464.90 billion rupees

• Coal India's offtake, or sales to customers, rose for the first time in six months in March. Sales increased ahead of peak summer, amid a shortfall in gas supply due to the Iran war.

• Analysts from Elara Capital said ahead of the results that increased production year-on-year would help sales and profit growth, despite a 1.4% decline in offtake compared to last year.

• The company's average realisation, or average selling price per tonne, rose about 6% to 2,289.58 rupees, supporting revenue

($1 = 94.1900 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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April 10 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• ABSORBS INPUT COST INCREASES TO INSULATE INDIAN COAL USERS

• COMPENSATING INCREASED PRICE OF INDUSTRIAL DIESEL TO CONTRACTORS, OPERATING IN CIL'S MINES

• SOME OF CIL'S SUBSIDIARIES HAVE REDUCED RESERVE PRICE OF COAL IN SINGLE WINDOW MODE AGNOSTIC E-AUCTION

• AMMONIUM NITRATE COST INCREASES 44% TO 72,750 RUPEES PER TON AS OF APRIL 1, 2026

• CIL INCREASES FREQUENCY AND QUANTUM OF COAL AUCTIONS

Source text: ID:nBSEcgf4zz

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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April 8 (Reuters) - ** Shares of Coal India COAL.NS down about 3% at 448.15 rupees; set to fall the most since Feb 1

** Biggest loser on Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which is up 3.6%

** Stock falls after U.S. agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, easing concerns over oil and LNG flows through Strait of Hormuz

** Expectations of higher demand for alternative feedstock amid Middle East conflict led to rise in COAL earlier this month

** Co accounts for over 80% of India's production and is world's largest coal miner by output

** COAL rated "hold" on average by 22 analysts, median PT at 434.50 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, COAL up about 12% vs Nifty 50's nearly 8% decline

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru)

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April 1 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• COAL INDIA - REPORTS PROVISIONAL MARCH 2026 COAL PRODUCTION OF 84.5 MILLION TONNES, DOWN 1.5% Y/Y

Source text: ID:nNSEc0K1Zb

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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** Shares of Coal India COAL.NS rise as much as 3.25%, before settling up 1.37% at 450.85 rupees

** Co receives letter of award worth 10.57 bln rupees ($111.37 mln) from Telangana Power Generation Corp to set up a battery energy storage system plant

** Gains also come amid government efforts to widen coal availability beyond traditional sectors such as power

** Earlier this month, government asked the state-run miner to make coal available to small and medium enterprises and the hospitality sector, including restaurants and hotels

** COAL stock up 11.54% YTD

($1 = 94.9100 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru)

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March 27 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• TO SET UP EIGHT NEW COKING COAL WASHERIES WITH 33 BILLION RUPEES OUTLAY

• TO INVEST 3 BILLION RUPEES IN RENOVATION OF EXISTING COKING COAL WASHERIES

• EIGHT NEW WASHERIES TO BE OPERATIONAL BY FY 2030 WITH 21.5 MT/Y CAPACITY

Source text: ID:nBSEc9YbjV

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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** Shares of Coal India COAL.NS fall 2.6%, top pct loser on the NIFTY 50 index .NSEI

** Fall due to profit taking after gains earlier this month on early summer and demand for alternative feedstock amid Middle East war

** So far in March, COAL up ~3% vs ~9% drop in Nifty 50 index .NSEI

** Also, ongoing IPO of COAL's subsidiary Central Mine Planning & Design Institute subscribed only 0.37x as of 01:24 PM IST on the last day of the three-day bidding process

** COAL in-principle approved selling stake in subsidiaries Mahanadi Coalfields and South Eastern Coalfields by offer for sale via initial public offering

** Plans to sell up to 25% stake each in Mahanadi Coalfields and South Eastern Coalfields via offer for sale

(Reporting by Vijay Malkar)

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March 23 (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd COAL.NS:

• BOARD APPROVES CLOSURE OF MJSJ COAL LIMITED

• CLOSURE DUE TO NON-OPERATION AND SUPREME COURT CANCELLATION OF COAL BLOCKS

Source text: ID:nBSE48QR5x

Further company coverage: COAL.NS

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For photo essay click here https://bit.ly/4uCUiH0

By Avijit Ghosh and Sethuraman N R

CHHATTISGARH/NEW DELHI, March 17 (Reuters) - On a moonless night in central India, Pannelal Rajak braces an axe on his shoulder and sweeps a high beam torch across the still, inky water of a lake. Rajak points in the distance to where the light fades. "My land was there," he says.

Decades ago, Rajak, now 78, gave up his land for the Bishrampur open-cast coal mine in exchange for money and a job in the mine he believed would follow.

But, Rajak never got the job. He says the mining company would not give him work because of a disability in his left hand.

Today, he guards the same mine, which was turned into a boating lake with a floating restaurant when the coal ran out.

"At least I am earning something here now," he says.

Bishrampur stands as a model for India's attempts to give its exhausted mines a second life.

The world's second-largest coal producer and consumer after China is accelerating regeneration programmes across hundreds of mines as their coal runs out, aiming to create sustainable livelihoods for the communities who live there, mostly from tourism.

Spread across 1,472 hectares (5.68 square miles), the Bishrampur mine's 10 pits yielded more than 38.7 million tons of coal between 1961 and 2018 when the coal finally ran out.

Over time, some of the pits had gradually filled with water, creating a deep, bottle-green lake.

The district administration, with some funding from South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), transformed it into a small tourist hub with rafts, a park and a few cottages. SECL is a unit of Coal India Ltd COAL.NS, the world's largest coal miner.

The site, which began to be repurposed for tourism in 2018, is managed by a women's community group and a fishery cooperative, and attracts as many as 150 people at the weekend.

For the women, the gains have gone beyond income.

"In the village, most women are only housewives. Our movements were restricted," says 30-year-old boat operator Anjani Singh.

"Working here, meeting officials and people gave us confidence."

The group's leader, Pooja Sahu, agrees.

"Here women are known by the name of their husband or father-in-law. We wanted to be known by our own names," she says.

Around Kenapara, the nearest village, locals now recognise them as the women who "run the boats."

Savita Gupta, 28, who runs the lake's floating restaurant, said her association with the women's group had transformed her from housewife to entrepreneur.

"I hope my daughter will learn from my life and think about becoming an independent woman," Gupta said.

Not far from the water, other projects are also underway.

A 40-hectare solar park generating 12 megawatts of power employs several local residents, including technician Pawan Kumar, 22, who earns 15,000 Indian rupees ($162.25) a month.

Officials say they have restored several hundred hectares of former mining land, planting trees including sheesham - a North Indian rosewood - and mango. SECL has spent around 43 million rupees developing the project, government data shows.

But the revival is fragile.

The women say they pay 2,000 rupees a month each to rent the boats and cover most of the maintenance costs themselves. They worry SECL is not doing enough to publicise the site and its attractions.

A nightly light show has been shut for months due to faulty lights.

SECL officials recently visited to take stock — the first such inspection in five years, the women say.

"Currently, it is managed by the district authority," says Ashish Clarence, an official with SECL, which highlights the park as a model for tourist development in its company brochures. The firm is considering improvements and maintenance to the site, he said, without giving more details.

Back on the night shift, Rajak pulls his torch in an arc across the water and listens to the faint creak of the boats in the dark.

He once worked this same patch as a hotel watchman when the mine was operational but the hotel and the job disappeared when the coal ran out.

"I've seen how things end here. This time, let it not end," he says.

($1 = 92.4475 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Avijit Ghosh; Writing by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

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Adds details from paragraph 2

By Nidhi Verma

March 13 (Reuters) - India has asked liquefied petroleum gas consumers to avoid panic buying of LPG cylinders and shift to piped natural gas where possible, oil ministry official Sujata Sharma said on Friday.

India's crude oil, LPG, and liquefied natural gas supplies have been disrupted due to global shipping constraints after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran halted traffic through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

"LPG is an issue of concern," said Sharma, a joint secretary in the federal oil ministry, adding the government is cracking down on black marketing and hoarding of LPG cylinders in coordination with states.

About 333 million households use LPG cylinders, and more than 150 million get gas supplies through pipelines. Sharma said about six million LPG-consuming households could easily switch to piped gas use.

"We request them to avail piped gas connection to ease pressure on LPG," she said.

She also said that commercial and industrial consumers in major urban cities facing LPG shortages should contact their local city gas distribution company to arrange a piped gas connection.

PANIC BUYING

India consumed 33.15 million metric tons of cooking gas last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

Panic buying had pushed daily LPG booking requests to about 7.6 million as of Thursday from around 5.5 million on March 1, with most bookings made online, Sharma said.

India has asked refiners to boost LPG production. Domestic LPG production has risen by 30% since March 5, she said.

The government has prioritised LPG supplies for households, followed by hospitals and educational institutions, while allowing commercial users to use alternative fuels such as biomass, coal and fuel oil.

India has asked Coal India COAL.NS, the country's top coal producer, to make coal available to small and medium enterprises and the hospitality sector, including restaurants and hotels, Sharma said.

To overcome the shortage, Indian ports are giving priority berthing to LPG carriers, said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary at the ministry of shipping.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Jan Harvey)

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** Coal India COAL.NS rises as much as 4.7% to 467.90 rupees, bucking broader market trend; set for third session of gains

** Expectations of higher demand for alternative feedstock amid Middle East conflict, early summer supporting state-owned co, say two analysts

** On Wednesday, India's coal ministry said country has sufficient supplies to meet what is expected to be an unprecedented surge in demand during summer months

** Pithead stock at COAL, which produces three-quarters of India's output, was around record 121.4 million tons as of March 9

** More than 11.7 million shares traded, 1.2x the 30-day avg

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 436 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, COAL up 16.5%

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

Recasts, adds details on stocks, context throughout

NEW DELHI, March 11 (Reuters) - India has sufficient coal supplies to meet what is expected to be an unprecedented surge in demand during the summer months, the Coal Ministry said on Wednesday, after gas supply disruptions due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The overall coal stock available in the country is about 210 million metric tons, which would be sufficient for about 88 days of consumption, the ministry said in a statement.

The South Asian country still relies on coal for three-fourths of its electricity generation, even as it ramps up renewable energy generation at a record pace.

The statement comes as India expects to boost its coal power usage to meet the summer demand after the conflict in the Middle East hit its supplies of natural gas, mainly from Qatar.

The country's power plants had 54.05 million tons of coal, enough for about 24 days at the current rate of consumption, the ministry said. Pithead stock at Coal India COAL.NS, which produces three-quarters of India's output, was around a record 121.4 million tons as of March 9.

"Coal production and supply continue to be higher than consumption in fiscal year ending March 31," the statement said.

Higher domestic production has also led India to open up exports for neighboring countries and test increased blending of domestic coal in power plants traditionally designed to be operated with imported coal.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR, Tanvi Mehta and Hritam Mukherjee; Editing by YP Rajesh and Andrei Khalip)

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By Neha Arora and Sethuraman N R

NEW DELHI, March 10 (Reuters) - Scores of small Indian steel producers have warned of production cuts as the escalating Middle East conflict disrupts gas supplies to the world's biggest producer of the alloy after China, industry officials said.

"We are looking at a 50% production cut as of now and a complete halt ahead, if supplies don't improve within a week," Yogesh Kanakiya, director at Triveni Iron and Steel Industries, told Reuters.

Triveni Iron and Steel Industries is based in the western state of Gujarat, the country’s largest gas-consuming region, which relies on the Middle East for much of its liquefied natural gas.

Several small steel mills in Gujarat depend on imported LNG.

Most gas producers, including Gujarat Gas GGAS.NS declared force majeure last week to restrict gas supplies to industries.

"We work on wafer thin margins and our margins have shrunk," said Anshum Goyal, managing director and promoter at Friends Steel Group in Gujarat. "We are concerned over supplies and it is affecting our decision-making in terms of prices we need to keep."

Producers in other parts of India are also grappling with rising coal costs fuelled by geopolitical tensions, adding pressure on margins.

About 6% of India's steel output uses gas-based direct reduced iron, or DRI, while roughly 50% depends on coal-fired blast furnaces.

"The ongoing geopolitical tensions have led to roughly a 10-12% increase in coal and freight costs," said Rahul Mittal, chairman of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association.

India produces around 50 million metric tons of sponge iron annually, largely used by secondary steel producers as raw material.

The impact of falling gas supplies has been exacerbated by sharp rises in imported coal prices.

South African thermal coal prices at Indian ports jumped by around 10-13% last week to a three-year high due to firmer freight rates and broader Middle East tensions, commodities consultancy BigMint said.

Coal buying in India has become more cautious amid higher freight costs and elevated global coal prices, said Vasudev Pamnani, director at Gujarat-based coal trader i-Energy Resources.

(Reporting by Neha Arora and Sethuraman NR; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Susan Fenton)

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