Annual production goal remains an elusive dream for Coal India

Even as it closed February with a 12 per cent rate of growth, surpassing its monthly target, achieving the annual production target of 507 million tonne may remain elusive for Coal India Ltd (CIL), available indications show.

Enquiries revealed that CIL may just be able to scrape past the 490-million tonne mark by around a couple of million tonne. It closed 2013-14 with 462 million tonne and indications are that this year the figure may touch just 492 million tonne against the targeted 507 million tonne. The company, which has been tasked to raise 1,000 million tonne coal by 2020, has produced 436.9 million tonne between April and February 2014-15, against the targeted 450.1 million tonne. This translated into a 6.8 per cent growth rate for the first 11 months of 2014-15, although the coal behemoth had touched a 7.3 per cent growth rate between October and January.

Under the one billion tonne production plan, CIL needs to produce 548 million tonne next fiscal. Beginning with a lower production level, it will raise the asking rate for growth, sources said.

At least two of its subsidiaries — Central Coalfields Ltd. and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. — clocked double digit growth rate during this period. CCL, clocked a 23.2 per cent growth in February, while Eastern Coalfields, just out of BIFR, reported 24 per cent growth in February 2015 over same month in 2014. At least one CIL subsidiary, Western Coalfields Ltd., clocked a negative growth rate. Enquiries revealed that CIL may just be able to scrape past the 490-million tonne mark, by around a couple of million tonne. It closed 2013-14 with 462 million tonne and indications are that this year the figure may touch just 492 million tonne against the targeted 507 million tonne. Coal evacuation remained a problem with a growth of 3.5 million tonne in the first 11 months of 2014-15.

In February, the companies hit their offtake target and it was learnt that this month offtake would exceed output. It may be mentioned here that coal evacuation is now receiving greater attention and CIL has begun putting in place many measures to address this area.