CIL expects higher revenue to offset wage hikes

Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, hopes higher revenues after a change in its pricing method will offset the impact of a likely wage increase, Chairman N.C. Jha said on Monday.

The state-run firm's board approved a plan late last week to change its benchmark pricing for non-coking coal to gross calorific value from the current useful heat value. It expects higher revenues after the change but cannot currently estimate the exact impact.

"I am not looking for any price hike. With this, I hope, we will get revenues which can offset the increase in wages," Jha told Reuters from Kolkata. "Some customers will get coal at higher prices, some will get at lower prices."

 

Coal India is currently in wage negotiations with its workers' unions, and had made a related provision of Rs 750 crore in the September quarter.