Team News Riveting
Kolkata, April 1
State-run miner Coal India Limited (CIL) has produced 773.7 million tonnes (MT) of coal in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), which will be close to a 10-per cent growth over last year.
However, it fell short of the target of 780 MT. The company recorded a coal offtake of 753 MT, nearly 90 per cent of the target of 780 million tonnes, they said.
In previous two financial years CIL has increased its production by 151 MTs. This was higher by 22.6 MTs than the combined increase of 128.4 MTs achieved in six years from FY 2016 till FY 2022. Coal production of 88.6 MTs in March 2024 was the highest ever for any month till date.
All the subsidiaries of the largest coal producer in the world have registered positive growth in the production. The Sambalpur-based Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) ranked top with 206.1 MT output, registering a growth of 6.6 per cent over last year.
South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), the Chhattisgarh-Bilaspur-based arm of CIL, produced 187.4 MT coal. The company registered a growth of 12.2 per cent over the output it had achieved in the last financial year.
The Madhya Pradesh-based Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) produced 136.1 MT coal, up by 3.8 per cent over last year. The Ranchi-headquartered Central Coalfields Limited (CIL) registered 13.1 per cent growth in the production. The company produced 86.1 MT coal in the FY24.
Supplies to power sector have reached 618.5 MT in the just concluded fiscal, 31.9 MT more compared to 586.6 MT of FY 2023 with a growth of 5.4 per cent. CIL supplied 8.5 MT more coal to power plants than its assigned commitment of the year, that is, 610 MT.
Concurrently, supplies to non-power sector (NPS) have risen to 135 MT with a year-on-year jump of 26.9 MT registering around 25 per cent growth. CIL supplied 108.1 MT to NPS in FY 2023.
On the back of better quality coal supplies, grade conformity improved to 76 per cent during FY 2024 from 70 per cent over preceding year.
CIL ended FY 2024 with a coal inventory of around 90 MT which is 20.7 MT more than the same period last financial year – a near 30 per cent increase. Stock at CIL’s pitheads was 69.3 MT corresponding period last fiscal.
On an average CIL loaded 292.2 rakes per day during FY 2024 against 273.6 rakes/day of FY 2023 registering a growth of 6.8 per cent. One rake load of coal is approximately 4000 tons.
The target for the next fiscal year has been fixed at 838 MT, the sources said.
According to projections, demand for coal is likely to go up from 1,180 million tonnes in 2023-24 to 1,464 million tonnes in 2029-30.
