India imported 15.9 million mt of coal in April, down 15% year on year, according to a coal ministry official.
In value terms, the imports were worth Rupee 60.23 billion ($902 million), down 32% year on year.
"Reduced import in 2015-16 resulted in saving of estimated Rupee 240 billion in foreign exchange," coal secretary Anil Swarup said in a Tweet Friday.
The government wants to meet demand by increasing domestic coal production at state-run Coal India's mines.
With Coal India ramping up production, dependence on imported coal has been falling, especially at those plants which were using imported coal to blend with domestic coal.
