Strike causes partial impact to Coal India output, despatch

The nationwide strike called by 10 trade unions partially impacted mining major Coal India Ltd's (CIL) production and despatch on Wednesday, company sources said.

Members of 10 central trade unions, which include AITUC, INTUC, CITU, AICCTU, CUCC, SEWA, LPF, along with various sectoral independent federations, are participating in the one-day strike.

Some subsidaries of CIL, including Eastern Coalfields South Eastern Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields faced disruption in production during the day's first shift, sources said.

CIL officials said till 2 pm, the overall attendance was 89 per cent, taking all subsidaries into account.

Production at Eastern Coalfields' Rajmahal mine in Jharkhand took a hit for close to five hours, while operations came to a standstill at the Mugma mine in the state, they said.

According to initial estimates, at least 10-15 per cent of production and despatch of CIL were affected owing to the strike.

However, a Northern Coalfields spokesperson claimed the strike had no impact on its production, which was "slightly higher" in comparison to other days.

A senior official of Central Coalfields also said operations were normal at its 41 opencast and underground mines with "only 732 of the total 8,293 miners" remaining absent.

Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output, typically strives to increase output in the January-March quarter, considered to be the most productive period.