India, which is presently the second largest importer of coal, may pip China to become the largest importer of the commodity in the next 3-5 years.

This was predicted by James O?Connell, Editor-in-Chief for coal in Platts McGraw Hill Financial. O?Connell said Indonesia is likely to remain one of the top exporters of the commodity to the country going ahead.

While India is facing an ever rising demand for coal on the back of huge rise in the power production capacity, coal mining has not kept pace with the demand.

India imported around 135 million tonne of coal valued at about $15.5 billion in 2012-13.

Rise in coal import is one of the reasons for the sharp rise in the current account deficit to 4.8 per cent during 2012-13.