The Ministry of Coal on September 29, 2026, has released the provisional National Coal Index (NCI) with base year 2017-18 for August 2026, compiled as per the approved methodology. The overall NCI for Indian coal increased from 144.15 in July 2026 to 153.11 in August 2026. The index for non-coking coal rose from 137.19 to 148.31, while the coking coal index increased from 164.18 to 166.93.
The provisional representative prices for different coal grades based on August 2026 prices have also been released. Prices generally increased for middle and lower grades of non-coking and coking coal, while certain top non-coking grades, particularly G2-G6, recorded declines. The NCI and representative prices are provisional as the import data used for compilation is provisional, and historical datasets have also been provided in the annexure.
[File No: NA/102/3/2017-NA]
