Coal India output up 5% in Apr-Sept

Output was higher than offtake in the period due to company's pit-head stock, which was 28 mt at end of first six months of this FY

State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Thursday reported a 4.7 per cent rise in coal production at 200.47 million tonnes (mt) in the first six months of the current financial year, meeting 97 per cent of its target of 206.63 mt.

Although the company did not provide a break-up for the first two quarters, officials suggested in the second quarter the company registered about 10 per cent growth, while in the first quarter it had a flat performance.

Meanwhile, the company’s offtake for the first half of 2013-14 stood at 224.36 mt against a target of 227.23 mt. For September, the company’s production and offtake stood at 33.58 mt and 35.79 mt, respectively.

The output was higher than offtake because of the company’s pit-head stock. According to to company sources, pit-head stock at the end of first six months this financial year stood at 28 mt.

Chairman S Narasing Rao, however, said, the company was confident of meeting the production and offtake targets, as production scales up in the later part of the year. The company is also confident of meeting the fuel supply agreement commitments for the current year.

According to the memorandum of understanding between CIL and the coal ministry, production and offtake targets for the state-miner were set at 482 mt and  492 mt, respectively.