NMDC to Launch Thermal Coal Sales From Jharkhand Mine in Q3 FY27
NMDC targets 1 million tonnes of thermal coal sales by March 2027, moving to cut iron ore's share of revenue to 80% by 2030.
India's National Mineral Development Corporation will begin commercial thermal coal production at its Tokisud North mine in Jharkhand in the October-December 2026 period, with sales targeted at approximately 1 million tonnes for the fiscal year ending March 2027, Chairman Amitava Mukherjee said in an interview reported by PTI.7
The announcement marks NMDC's first entry into coal, and comes as the company pursues a goal of generating 20% of its revenues from non-iron ore minerals by 2030 — a target that requires building new commodity businesses while simultaneously scaling its core iron ore operation.5
NMDC has been moving fast on iron ore. It produced a record 53 million tonnes in FY26, up from 44 million tonnes in FY25, a 20% year-on-year increase, and Mukherjee said the company remains on track for its 100-million-tonne annual target by 2030.6
Tokisud North is a small start. The mine holds reserves of 52 million tonnes and a peak annual rated capacity of 2.3 million tonnes, according to Mukherjee. A 1-million-tonne first-year sales target represents less than half that ceiling, reflecting the lead time required to ramp a new mine to full output.7
NMDC is also preparing to develop a second coal block with reserves of 191 million tonnes and a peak rated capacity of 8 million tonnes. Mukherjee gave no timeline for that development. At nameplate capacity it would give the company a coal business large enough to function as a meaningful revenue contributor — but physical production at that scale is years away at minimum.7
The diversification also extends to coking coal, according to Rediff Money, which widens the revenue logic but adds a different set of market exposures. Coking coal trades against different buyers, pricing benchmarks and quality specifications than thermal supply.4
Newcastle Coal (physical) was trading at $137.75 per tonne as of September 8, 2026. That price gives context for the commercial case at Tokisud North, though NMDC has not disclosed whether it intends to sell into domestic Indian markets or compete in seaborne trade.
NMDC is entering coal at a moment when the largest seaborne buyer has been pulling back sharply. China's thermal coal imports fell 26% year-on-year in June 2025 from a record 47.6 million metric tons in September 2024, according to ainvest.com. By 2025, China's domestic coal production had risen 5% year-on-year to record levels. Analysts cited by newstarget.com attributed the trend to narrowing import profit margins, port inventory surpluses and a strategic push toward self-sufficiency.1,2
The structural direction runs further against seaborne demand. China's wind and solar capacity surpassed coal for the first time in the first quarter of 2025, reaching 1,482 gigawatts against 1,450 gigawatts for thermal, according to ainvest.com. Coal-fired generation fell 4.7% year-on-year in that quarter, while renewables accounted for 36% of electricity output. By 2030, renewables are projected to supply 25% of China's primary energy, with coal's share in power generation declining to between 37% and 40%.1
South Africa designated thermal coal a "highly critical" mineral in its Critical Minerals Strategy, making it the only country to do so formally, according to miningmx.com. India has not issued a similar designation, but NMDC's coal expansion reflects the same underlying logic: large emerging economies face domestic energy security pressures that lead them toward coal supply development regardless of the direction of global import flows.3
Any slippage in the October production start at Tokisud North would push the 1-million-tonne FY27 sales target into doubt and raise early questions about NMDC's pace of execution beyond iron ore.7