CIL assures efforts for extra coal supply to consumers

Coal India (CIL) has assured the government that it will make efforts to increase coal availability to the users by 28 million tonne in the current financial year to tide over the shortages.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal gave this assurance on behalf of the Maharatna PSU to the Group of Ministers (GoM) which met last week to take stock of the problems affecting the coal production, including those relating to clearances by the Environment Ministry, sources said.

"Coal India will try to lift 28 million tonne of coal from pithead," an official said.

Besides the problem of environment clearances, the stock piled at the pitheads of the coal mines has reached 70 million tonne. CIL is facing difficulties in transporting the dry fuel from pithead to the consumers like power, steel and cement plants for want of railway rakes, company sources said.

Jaiswal assured the GoM that the CIL would make efforts to reduce the stockpile from 70 to 42 million tonne by March 2012.

CIL, which accounts for over 80% of domestic production, has been facing problems of coal evacuation due to the shortage of railway rakes.

Last month, the Coal Ministry had proposed to assist Railways in arranging finances for purchase of rakes to speed up coal transportation.

The GoM headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has met thrice since February to sort of ongoing issues, mostly relating to go and no-go' of the environment ministry hurting coal production.