NATIONAL COAL INDEX (NCI) (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: The National Coal Index (NCI) reported a notable decline of 3.48% in June 2024, falling to 142.13 points from 147.25 points in June 2023, according to provisional data.

National Coal Index (NCI)

• Definition: The NCI is a price index that reflects the change in the price level of coal in a particular month relative to a fixed base year.
• Components of the Index: NCI combines the prices of coal from all sales channels: Notified Prices, Auction Prices, and Import Prices.

oIt considers prices of coking and non-coking coal of various grades transacted in the regulated (power and fertilizer) and non-regulated sectors.

• Launched: June 2020
• Nodal Agency: Ministry of Coal
• Development: The concept and design of the NCI, including representative prices, were developed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
• Base Year: 2017-18.
• Scope of the Index: The NCI encompasses all transactions of raw coal in the Indian market, including both coking and non-coking grades in regulated and non-regulated sectors.

Coal

• Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55% of the country's energy need. The country's industrial heritage was built upon indigenous coal.
• Indian coal offers a unique ecofriendly fuel source to domestic energy market for the next century and beyond. Hard coal deposit spread over 27 major coalfields, are mainly confined to eastern and south central parts of the the country.(See Coal Reserves).The lignite reserves stand at a level around 36 billion tonnes, of which 90 % occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu.