DUSHANBE, August 7, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Over the first seven months of this year, Tajikistan has produced more than 400,000 tons of coal, which is nearly 18 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies (MINT).

“In January-July last year, Tajikistan produced nearly 340,000 tons of coal,” an official source at a MINT told Asia-Plus in an interview.

Coal production has reportedly increased due to a shift in the country’s industrial enterprises from more expensive natural gas and electricity to more economical coal for heating and other needs.

Since 2007, more than 150 industrial enterprises in Tajikistan have been shifted to coal, the source said.  More than 160 coal-fired enterprises now operate in Tajikistan.

Eighteen coal-producing enterprises now operate at fourteen coal deposits in Tajikistan.  Fon-Yaghnob Mine is Tajikistan’s largest coal-producing enterprise.