RELATIVE VALUE OF INDIAN COAL 



COAL 



Trade 



Practical 

 Difficulty of 



! iru.if. 



in conditions obtainable in England prevailed, to 8*5 Ib. The 

 ;. UK ling efficiency of the best Cardiff coal, it is believed, is but 9 Ib. 

 us result has been hailed by certain Indian newspapers as a new dis- 

 v.-ry of the greatest public interest and value, and one which refutes 

 ipletely the unfavourable opinions often upheld regarding Indian coal 

 iii'in-ral. From the remarks already made it may have been inferred 

 it for many years past it has been recognised that the finest Indian 

 ils are little inferior to the best English and Welsh. But laboratory 

 re theoretical more than practical, and Mr. Grover's experiments 

 therefore of considerable importance. He has shown, for example, 

 it the assays revealed the percentage of ash to be 11 '5, while in the 

 jil tests it came to 16'7 of the original weight. This is the ex- 

 ession of the practical difficulty of firing, and similar instances exist in 

 directions without invalidating the relative values of chemical 

 iys. But so important is this question of ash that, as pointed out by 

 )ver, a sample of coal could be carried 54 miles farther than another 

 th which it was compared without exceeding the cost per ton of its 

 jmbustible constituents. 



TRADE. Production and Supply. In 1883 there were but two Production. 

 alities of Indian coal-production, viz. Bengal and the Central Provinces, 

 id the total output from the mines in these provinces came to only 

 ,315,976 tons. Ten years later there were nine Indian centres of produc- 

 >n (Burma, Assam, Bengal, Central India, Panjab, Baluchistan, Central 

 evinces, Nizam's Dominions and Madras) and the output had been 

 jubled (2,562,001 tons valued at Rs. 86,20,278). Still ten years later 

 1903) there were ten centres of production (Madras had disappeared and Expansion, 

 ishmir and Bikanir had been added), but the output increased to 

 138,386 tons, valued at Rs. 1,94,95,741. These figures speak volumes for 

 le mining enterprise of India, but the low price obtained (3s. Sd. per ton 

 the pit mouth in 1903) probably indicated that until the metallurgical 

 lustries have developed into important consumers of coal, present 

 iuction may be viewed as approaching the limits of demand. But a 

 jpeful sign of the suitability of Indian coal for all ordinary industrial 

 loses is the downward course of the imports of foreign and the 

 )ward tendency of the new trade in exporting Indian coal. This view Exports, 

 ceives confirmation when it is known that the increased production 

 the Indian mines has been on a higher ratio than necessitated by 

 le enhanced demands of the railway plus the exports, so that we are Railways, 

 irranted in concluding that the industries of India have made a 

 ibstantial advance within the period in question. 



Foreign Trade. The record year in the imports was 1888-9, when Imports, 

 icluding Government Stores) India drew from foreign countries (mostly 

 le United Kingdom) 877,843 tons of coal, coke and patent fuel, valued at 

 s. 2,00,95,105. Five years later (1893-4) the imports were 591,007 tons, steady 

 lued at Rs. 1,03,52,699; in 1898-9 they had decreased to 379,225 tons, l 

 ilued at Rs. 73,60,786 ; in 1903-4. they were only 206,829 tons, valued 

 Rs. 38,66,882 ; and in 1906-7, 262,286 tons, valued at Rs. 49,47,445. 

 lus there can be little doubt the imports have given place to local pro- 

 duction, and obviously so when in 1903, 7,438,386 tons of Indian coal were Reuare Pric*. 

 supplied for about the same sum as fetched only 877,843 tons of foreign 

 coal in 1888. 



The following shows the Imports and Exports of Coal, Coke and 



341 



Limits of 

 Demand. 



