Coal India may produce 462 million tonnes, missing FY14 target

According to a company official, production suffered in October due to Cyclone Phailin

Coal India Ltd (CIL) is likely to end the current financial year with production of 462 million tonnes, missing the target of 482 million tonnes.

The state-owned company, which accounts for over 80% of domestic coal production, has been drawing flak for missing output targets.

"Today is the last day of the current fiscal and in the current financial year the PSU may produce 462 million tonnes of coal," according to a company official. In March, the PSU produced 51.3 million tonnes of coal, the official said.

Production has fallen short of target on account of various reasons such as "environment clearance problem and also due to Phailin," the official said.

According to a CIL official, production suffered in October due to Cyclone Phailin, which affected the key coal producing states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Coal India had said earlier it may miss the production target of 482 million tonnes for 2013-14.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had asked the company to ensure that the output goal is met.

In 2012-13, the company produced 452.5 million tonnes of coal, short of the target of 464 million tonnes.

Coal India's production target for 2014-15 has been set at 507 million tonnes, while the offtake target for the next financial year is 520 million tonnes.