Output must grow by 10% to meet FY12 target: Coal India

Coal India Ltd (CIL) today said its revised production target of 440 million tonne for 2011-12 can only be achieved if the output of the public sector firm grows by 10% on average in the remaining months of the current fiscal.

"In the coming three months, we will have to grow by, on an average, 10% so that we are able to achieve our revised target," CIL CMD N C Jha told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here.

The company attributed the production growth of 7.5% in the current month to conducive climatic conditions.

"In spite of so much of restrictions we are growing. Barring monsoon months, we are growing. In November, we grew by 5.5%," the CMD said.

"Even during the beginning of the year, we had a growth of about 4.2%. Then the heat conditions developed in May, so the growth reduced. Earlier onset of monsoons made the growth negative. July was quite good... We had a positive growth," he added.
    
"August and September were excessively bad, we had a highly negative growth. October was an after-effect of drowned mines (growth was minus 8.5%)," he added.
    
The Chairman also exuded confidence that a decision on revision of the wages of employees of the public sector firm would be taken in an upcoming meeting between the management and workers' unions next month.
    
"On wage revision, the meeting would be held on January 10 and there we will take a view. I am hopeful that from meeting, which is for three days, some decision would come. But this all depends on the mutual understanding of the trade unions and the management," he said.
    
Earlier, CIL had said that it has drawn up fresh action plans to meet its revised production target for the current financial year.
    
The production target of the public sector firm, which was initially fixed at 452 million tonne at the beginning of the financial year, was scaled down to 440 million tonne about a month back.