Notable growth in coal sector due to rise in output of fossil fuel: Govt

The Centre on Thursday said the significant growth in the coal sector is due to a rise in production of the fossil fuel during September.

The production of coal in September 2023 increased to 67.27 million tonne (MT), against 58.04 MT in the year-ago period.

As per the index of eight core industries for September 2023 released by Ministry of Commerce & Industries, the index of coal sector showed a year-on-year growth of 16.1 per cent to 148.1 points.

This is the highest growth in last 14 months except for August 2023, the coal ministry said in a statement.

The latest data indicates that the combined index of eight core industries has shown a noteworthy increase of 8.1 per cent (provisional) in September 2023, compared to the same period in the previous year.


On Monday, the government had said that the country's coal production picked up momentum in the latter half of October after unprecedented rains earlier in the month in coal producing states.

"Coal production in the country, during current FY (till 28.10.23) has shown a growth of 12.81 per cent compared to same period last year," the coal ministry said in a statement.
 

The overall supply of dry fuel has increased by 11.70 per cent and supply to power sector has registered a growth of 7.87 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The Centre has played a crucial role in driving this growth through various strategic initiatives like amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2021, allowing captive mines to sell coal or lignite and augmenting domestic production through the auction-based regime for commercial coal mining.