Mahanadi Coalfields sees 15 percent output growth

Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a unit of state-run Coal India Ltd, expects its output to rise 15 percent in the current fiscal ending in March 2015, Chairman A.K. Sahay said Wednesday.

"We expect to produce 127 million tonnes of coal this year against last year's 110.4 million tonnes. The extra coal will come from some of the existing mines which have been given necessary clearances last year for expansion," he told IANS.

"Till September (April to September) we produced about 55 million tonnes against a target of 53.8 million tonnes giving a growth of 15.3 percent over the last year," Sahay said. "We are on the right track. In the first six month, we achieved more than the target."

"We are able to produce more because we have been able to get clearances for expansion of some mines. We got environmental clearance for expansion of Lakhanpur and Bhubaneswari mines and forest clearance for Bharatpur mines," he said.

"This year, we are expecting more production from there" he said.

MCL, with its headquarters in the town of Burla in Sambalpur district, about 340 km from here, supplies coal to a number of power companies in south India and Odisha, including the state power utility NTPC, Talcher Thermal Power Station and aluminium-maker Nalco.

The company plans to ramp up production further next year. "Next year, we are planning to go up to 140 million tonnes or more (2015-16)," he said.