Coal India misses target by 19.5 million tonnes

Coal India Ltd. (CIL) closed last fiscal with a production of 462.5 million tonnes, which was 19.5 million tonnes off the target set for 2013-14. While CIL’s growth rate stood at 2.3 per cent, at least two of its seven coal-producing subsidiaries showed a drop in production.

However, undeterred by the slippages, CIL Chairman S. Narsing Rao said that the company would go all out to touch the half-a-billion mark in production this year.

Enquiries revealed that while five million tonnes of production was lost to Cyclone Phailin, another 6 million tonnes were lost to law and order problems or sudden bandhs called by Maoists in Jharkhand (where Central Coalfields) is headquartered, and Odisha (where Mahanadi Coalfields) is based.

However, two other eastern region companies, of which one is still in the fold of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) have bettered the performance of their parent. While Eastern Coalfields, based in Asansol, is still a BIFR company, Bharat Coking Coal Company, based in Dhanbad, came out of the BIFR fold a few years ago.

Eastern Coalfields closed the year with a growth rate of 6.3 per cent, exceeding its targeted production, and BCCL clocked a 4.5 per cent growth rate hitting its target on the dot. Together, these two companies accounted for 30 per cent of the 10.5 million tonne increase in production by CIL.

Lower target

Accordingly, the memorandum of understanding that CIL signed with the Coal Ministry was for producing 507 million tonnes which is lower than the target envisaged originally.