India may continue to face shortage of coal till 2017 and would have to depend on imports to meet shortage of fuel even at the end of the 12th Five-Year-Plan period, according to Pratik Prakashbabu Patil, Minister of State for Coal. The country imported 110.42 mnt of coal, mainly from Indonesia, Australia, South Africa and US, between April 2012 and January 2013, whereas the production for the same period was 557.5 million tonne. As per the Planning Commission forecast, the country’s coal imports may rise a whopping 185 mnt by 2017. Coal is under the open general license and hence it can be imported at prevailing international prices by anyone through paying the applicable import duty. The government has taken measures to boost domestic production of coal.