The Indian Government on Monday said the country's coal imports have declined by 5.1% to 14.52 million tonnes (MT) in October over the year-ago period.

Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said, "DGCI&S data reveals that import of coal has come down for the fourth consecutive month. In October 2015, it is down by 5.10 per cent over October 2014."

According to provisional coal statistics of 2014-15 released by the Coal Ministry earlier, India had imported 212.103 million tonnes of coal worth over Rs 1 trillion last fiscal.

The coal imports had dropped by 27.16% to 12.6 MT in September on rise in domestic production.

Earlier, the coal imports were down to 12.6 MT in September 2015 from 17.3 MT in September 2014.