Coal India’s total coal production in May witnessed 11.6 per cent year-on-year fall at 56.1 million tonne as the coal behemoth is currently focussing on liquidation of stocks. In May, coal offtake witnessed a 2.2 per cent y-o-y increase at 66.2 million tonne (mt) against 65.2 mt in the year-ago period, according to CIL’s stock exchange filing on Monday.
Coal production in May last year stood at 63.5 mt. Among the company’s seven coal-producing subsidiaries, five witnessed a y-o-y fall in their production in May this year. Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL), Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL), Western Coalfields (WCL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) registered a production decline of 3.6 per cent, 25.5 per cent, 23.7 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 20.1 per cent y-o-y, respectively.
In a recent exclusive interview with businessline, Coal India Chairman and Managing Director B Sairam said the company’s emphasis is now on more efficient synchronisation between production and evacuation. “We are consciously making efforts to place fresher coal into the market and move towards a more demand-aligned produce-and-sell approach, rather than prolonged stocking before sale.” Sairam pointed out.
CIL began this fiscal with around 130 mt of coal stock at its pitheads, which was 17 per cent of its entire output of around 768 mt last fiscal. “Our effort is to progressively moderate the inventory levels towards more optimal levels of around 10 per cent of the total production, or around 70 mt,” said Sairam.
At present, coal inventories at CIL’s pitheads are at around 112 mt. In April and May, coal offtake witnessed a 0.9 per cent y-o-y increase to 130.9 mt against 129.8 mt during the same period last year.
Coal India said its e-auction price of coal increased by 36 per cent over notified prices in May. In April, the e-auction price rose by 51 per cent over notified prices.
Quantity offered through e-auction during May stood at 25.74 mt, while quantity allocated was 8.4 mt. The quantity of coal allocated through the e-auction decreased 28.63 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
Under its flagship first mile connectivity (FMC) initiative, Coal India has 46 projects at present with a total capacity of 432 mt. This fiscal, the company is making efforts to add another 13 projects of capacity of 133 mt, which would elevate the total capacity to around 565 mt. By FY29, it plans to have a total of 94 FMC projects with a cumulative capacity of 994 mt. Over the next three to four years, CIL plans to invest around ₹25,000 crore in FMC infrastructure.