Coal imports rose by 9.5 per cent to 18.33 million tonnes (MT) in September, after having registered year-on-year decline for five months in a row, as some power plants faced fuel shortages. “Coal imports (all types) in September 2017 stood at 18.33 MT (provisional), against 16.73 MT in September 2016,” as per the latest data by m-junction services. Mjunction services is an online procurement and sales platform floated jointly by state-run SAIl and steel behemoth Tata Steel.