Coal India logs 602 mn tonnes output for FY20, misses fiscal target

State-owned Coal India Ltd produced602.14 million tonnes (MT) of coal in FY 2019-20, missing the target of 660 MT for the year.

"The company closed the fiscal 2019-20 with an annual coal production of 602.14 MT," the PSU said in a statement.

Coal India (CIL) recorded an all-time high production of 84.36 MT in March 2020, posting 6.5 per cent growth as compared to same month a year ago.

By producing 3.85 MT of coal on March 30, CIL has set up a new record for the highest-ever production in a day since its inception.

Coming back strongly in the last quarter of FY2020, CIL clocked a robust 9.9 per cent production growth compared to same quarter of 2018-19.

It produced 213.71 MT of coal during January-March 2020, an increase of 19.26 MT in volume terms compared to 194.45 MT that the company reported for the fourth quarter of FY2019.

"After the company's production was severely impeded on account of excess and prolonged monsoon during the first half of the fiscal, we could recover much of the lost ground in the second half" said an official of the company adding "CIL as whole produced 120.28 MTs more coal in H2 than it did in H1".

Against 240.93 MT production during April-September 2019, CIL produced 361.21 MT in the next six months from October 2019 to March 2020.

Two of the CIL's subsidiaries Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) and Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) surpassed their respective annual production targets of 2019-20, achieving 102 per cent and 103 per cent of their respective targets.

While NCL produced 108.05 MT for the fiscal, WCL's output was 57.64 MT.

"SECL with 1.08 MTs, CCL 0.79 MT, WCL 0.50 MT, NCL 0.41 MT and ECL 0.26 MT have recorded their highest single day production during the year," the statement said.

Importantly, not a single coal fired power plant in the country is in critical or super-critical condition for want of coal on March 31, 2020.

Thermal power plants of the country are flush with coal stocks with 44.68 MT sufficient for 28 days. Many of the thermal plants have requested CIL to regulate coal supplies to them.

Besides, ensuring steady supply to power sector, CIL liquidated around 91 per cent of its 5,143 arrear rakes to non-power sector consumers pertaining to years 2017-18 and 2018-19.

"4,660 backlog rakes have been cleared during the fiscal," it said.

Coal India's pithead stock has risen to highest ever 74.56 MT offering a comfortable buffer during the ensuing summer months.

The combined coal stock of 119.24 MT at power plants and at pitheads of CIL is highest ever dispelling any notions of coal shortage in the near future.