Coal India production growth no longer in negative territory

Coal India (CIL), which has been clocking negative growth in production during this fiscal, has been able to neutralise it for the first time. The production of 265.69 million tonne (mt) recorded on October 20 has come at level with last year’s output on the same date.

The company posted a marginal 0.04 mt increase in volume terms, thanks to a catalytic role by Mahanadi Coalfields and Northern Coalfields, which produced 71.7 mt and 60 mt as of October 20 – an increase by 9.61 mt and 3.15 mt, respectively, on a year-on-year basis, a CIL statement said.

CIL began posting strong growth in production and offtake from August and recorded the highest-ever production and offtake growth in September, clocking 31.6% and 31.7%, respectively. In October, CIL recorded around 20% growth in output and 24.3% in offtake.

Now on, ramping up coal production would not be a problem, especially with coal seams exposed. Over-burden removal grew phenomenally at 71% in September and 22.3% during the first half of the fiscal, a senior company executive said.

The first quarter of the fiscal suffered 11.6% growth constriction in production and 21.5% slump in offtake. Considering this huge setback, the company came back strongly, expunging the negative trend in output on October 20.

CIL shrugged off the first quarter’s tepid growth and clocked a robust 10.6% increase in production and a near 10% growth in offtake during the second quarter compared with the same period last fiscal. Coal offtake till October 20 at 287.19 mts is 4.9% lower compared with the same date last fiscal.

“However, we are confident of removing the negative trend in coal offtake by November and grow from there on, especially with thermal power plants and non-regulated sector customers showing keenness to lift increased quantities of coal. There is also a spike in the auction sales,” a CIL spokesperson said.