New Delhi, July 22 -- India's coking coal import bill has plunged over the last three years, as the country diversified its imports to Russia and the US, moving away from its top supplier, Australia, according to government data and industry experts. This trend came on the back of a softening of global coal prices. In financial year 2026, India imported coking coal worth $11.76 billion, nearly 39% lower than $19.2 billion in FY23. The import diversification started in fiscal 2023 when Russia, which started its war with Ukraine in February 2022, began offering discounts on its coking coal exports.Coking coal, a high-grade metallurgical coal used to produce coke, the primary reducing agent in blast furnaces, is a critical input for steelmaking.The value of coking coal imports from Australia has more than halved in the past three years, from $10.63 billion in FY23 to $5.1 billion in FY26, data from the commerce ministry showed. The price erosion in the period is evident from the fact that import volumes in the period from Australia dropped just 9.24% from 30.1 million tonnes in FY23 to 27.31 in FY26....