ECL registers highest production and offtake growth

Production growth for ECL was 10.9% to 33.9 mn tonnes (MT), while offtake growth was 16% to 35.8 MT

Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, has registered the highest production and offtake growth in 2012-13. "We surpassed our targets for the year. The restructuring of operations in some mines like closing a few small ones and expanding a few existing projects has led to higher production," ECL Director (Technical) Niladri Roy told PTI.

The production growth for ECL was 10.9 per cent to 33.9 million tonnes (MT), while offtake growth was 16 per cent to 35.8 MT. Cumulative production and offtake of all eight subsidiaries of CIL, however, failed to achieve the annual target for 2012-13.

The coal output for the year was only 452.5 MT, down by 12 MT, while offtake was lower by 5 MT from the respective targets for FY'13. Roy said expansion at Rajmahal and Sonpur Bazari open cast mines and Khottadih helped to improve productivity.

He said for 2013-14 the annual production target was set at 35 MT. The Coal Ministry has set a production target of 482 MT and off-take of 492 MT for CIL for the current fiscal (2013-14).

Meanwhile, despite higher production and offtake ECL expected marginal improvement in profit over 2011-12 of Rs 962 crore due to higher wage bill and diesel price impact.