The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DLHI, MAY 1, 2023
India’s domestic coal production touched a new high of 73.02 million tonnes (MT) in April 2023, registering a growth of 8.67 per cent as compared to 67.20 million tonnes output recorded during the corresponding period in the previous year.
Coal India Ltd (CIL) reported production of 57.57 million tonnes in April 2023 as against 53.47 million tonnes in the year-ago period, showing 7.67 per cent rise.
The Coal Ministry has paved the way for releasing additional coal in the market through greater utilisation of mining capacities of captive and private blocks, which has led to increase in dry fuel production by 17.52 per cent to 9.88 million tonnes in April 2023, as compared to 8.41 million tonnes recorded during the corresponding period in the last year.
The total coal despatch also registered a growth of 11.76 per cent from 71.99 million tonnes in April 2022 to 80.45 million tonnes in April 2023 due to the Coal Ministry’s initiatives to augment rail connectivity infrastructure for all major mines under PM Gati Shakti to ensure faster evacuation.
With an objective to enhance coal availability, Ministry of Coal has offered 103 coal/lignite blocks for auction under 7th round of auction and 29 agreements have been signed for mines which were auctioned in 6th round of auction. The cumulative PRC of 29 coal mines is 74 million tonnes per annum.
The government’s initiatives to increase domestic production would lower dependence on imported coal and would result in considerable saving of foreign exchange.
