)
State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has recorded a 7.3 per cent rise in production at 342.39 million tonnes (mt) in the first nine months of the current financial year.
CIL’s output from the April to December 2014 period is three per cent short of its target.
The miner was also short of its offtake target during this period. CIL’s offtake for the first nine months of 2014-15 registered a 3.8 per cent growth at 354.6 mt.
For December 2014, Coal India production was at 47 mt against a target of 47.93 mt. The offtake of dry fuel was at 43.91 mt during the month, against the targeted 46.49 mt. Coal India’s production target for 2014-15 has been set at 507 mt. The company, which accounts for 80 per cent of domestic coal production, missed its output target of 482 mt for 2013-14, producing 462 mt during the period.
Recently, the Centre has announced plans to boost Coal India’s annual production to the level of one billion tonnes by 2019 to meet growing fuel demand.
