CIL wants top spot in terms of revenue too

State-run Coal India (CIL), which toppled Reliance Industries (RIL) today as the country's most valued firm, said it was aiming to to become number one company of the country in the near future in terms of revenue as well.

"We have already become number one public sector company and now we are working on becoming number one firm in the country, profit and turnover wise as well. It is just a matter of some years," CIL Chairman NC Jha said.

At today's close, the Maharatna firm had a market capitalisation of Rs 2,51,296 crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange and ahead of erstwhile leader RIL marginally by Rs 4,167 crore.

It's shares closed 2.64% up on the BSE at Rs 397.70 apiece.

The erstwhile market leader RIL's market capitalisation on the BSE stood at Rs 2,47,129 crore, while the shares were down 0.55% at Rs 754.80 apiece.

Attributing the recognition of the Maharatna firm as the number one company on the bourses to its 3,82,000 employees, Jha said, "It has happened due to extensive efforts of all Coal Indians, who have been engaged in coal mining day and night."

The Maharatna company, incorporated in 1973 in Kolkata, had reported a 64% growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,143 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal vis-a-vis Rs 2,525 crore reported in the April-June of FY11.

For 2010-11, the company had reported a net profit of Rs 10,867.35 crore, while its net sales were Rs 50,233.59 crore.

The CIL chairman said that it had been making continuous efforts to scale up its operations despite issues like environmental clearances affecting the company.

In 2011-12, the company has kept a moderate growth target of 5-6% in its coal production at around 460 million tonne vis-a-vis last year's production of 431.33 million tonne.

However, the CIL chairman termed it as "momentary" and said, "Our production was 431 million tonne last year but it happened due to some issues related to environmental clearances. That is momentary. In the long run, we will demonstrate a significant growth and our coal production will also rise."

The company is the world's largest coal miner, with a total estimated coal reserves of 64.3 billion tonne, while its proven reserves are about 52.4 billion tonne.

The company operates 471 mines in 21 coalfields across 8 states in India through 7 wholly-owned subsidiaries.