Coal Minister Piyush Goyal has said India will not need to import thermal coal by 2017, except for the coastal power plants. He said era of shortages is over in coal sector. Speaking at a function in New Delhi yesterday, the Minister said country's economy is picking up and assured that his ministry will accelerate progress through energy security.<br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports coal imports are declining and they fell for the fourth consecutive month in October by 5.1 per cent to 14.52 million tonnes over same month year ago. India had imported nearly 212 million tonnes of coal worth over 1 lakh crore rupees last fiscal. The government is eyeing to achieve 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production by 2020.