The government today said it is not considering any increase in coal prices at the moment despite the demand for a hike by state-run Coal India Ltd earlier in the day. The company also said that a moderate price hike is likely.

"No plan (to hike coal prices) yet... But can't say about the future," Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal told reporters here today.

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"Coal India has reported a sharp drop in retained earnings because of wage built annual impact. A profit of Rs 300 crore on a turnover of Rs 45,000 crore is low. We see the scope for moderate increase in coal prices," Coal India CMD P S Bhattacharya told reporters here.

He further said there is no shortage of coal for the thermal power plants.

Retained earnings are that percentage of net earnings of a company that is not paid out as dividends but is retained by the company to be reinvested for the growth of the business, like investing in machinery etc.

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