Invisible inputs, visible risks
Empires were once forged in iron and fuelled by coal; today, they may fracture over elements most people cannot spell.
Empires were once forged in iron and fuelled by coal; today, they may fracture over elements most people cannot spell.
India’s core industrial activity contracted in March 2026, with the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) falling 0.4 per cent year-on-year compared to March 2025. This marked the weakest performance in nearly two years.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its aftermath have led to a shortage of cooking gas in India. Alongside rising prices of both household and commercial LPG, bookings are now being accepted only after a 25-day gap.
After coal, sand and stone, a fresh case of illegal soil excavation and trade has surfaced in West Burdwan district following a complaint filed over the unauthorised extraction of soil and its use in brick kilns.
On a cumulative basis, the core sector expanded by 2.6 per cent during April to December 2025-26 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, reflecting moderate overall growth amid mixed sectoral trends.
The coal sector has demonstrated highest growth of 10.2% (provisional), for the month of May 2024 as per the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI)) released by Ministry of Commerce & Industries.
Similarly, the dispatch of coal has shown a growth of 34.25 per cent year-on-year to to 45.68 million tonnes in the first quarter of FY25 from 34.07 million tonnes (MT) in the same April-June quarter of FY24.
The Coal Ministry on Tuesday held discussions with stakeholders on the more stringent guidelines that it plans to introduce for fostering a sustainable approach to coal mining that includes mandatory measures to preserve the environment.
In value term freight revenue went up by 11.1 per cent to Rs. 14,798.11 crores during June 2024 from Rs 13,316.81 crore in the same month last year.
The coal stocks at domestic coal-based Thermal Power Plants is currently at 44.46 million tonnes (MT) which is sufficient to meet the requirements for 18.5 days as per the present level of consumption, the Ministry of Coal said on Monday.
