Singareni eyes 40.5 mn tonne coal this fiscal

State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is targeting to produce 40.5 million tonne of coal during the 2007-08 financial year.

Besides, it is planning eight new mining projects and expects them to contribute around 16 lakh tonne of coal in 2007-08, according to an SCCL press release on Monday.

The company further informed that it had achieved a record production of 37.70 million tonne in 2006-07, the best-ever production achieved by SCCL in its 118-year history.

"SCCL, for the fifth consecutive year, has surpassed its coal production targets after having made a turnaround in 2002-03, and the coal production has witnessed a growth rate of 4.18 per cent over the previous year," the release stated.

SCCL also achieved an all-time record in coal despatches during the fiscal ended March 31, 2007. The company despatched 37.45 million tonne of coal during the year.

Of this, 72 per cent coal (26.80 million tonne) has been despatched to the power sector. Coal despatches to APGenco power stations stood at 9.35 million tonne. Despatches by rail mode were 21.50 million tonne, as against 20.35 million tonne in 2005-06.

The company's productivity (measured as output per man shift-overall mines) in 2006-07 was 2.37 tonne as against the previous best of 2.16 tonne.

It also registered a productivity growth rate of 9.72 per cent over the previous year, the release added.