Image Courtesy: PSU Connect
According to a statement from the Ministry of Coal, India’s coal production increased 10.81% from a year ago to 82.87 million tonnes (MT) in December from 74.79 million tonnes.
When compared to other captive mines and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), production at Coal India Ltd (CIL) increased by 10.30%, 19.12%, and 9.01%, respectively, in December.
According to the coal ministry, four mines generated between 80 and 100 percent of their total output, and 28 coal mines produced more than 100% of their total capacity.
In December, coal dispatches increased 5.28% year over year to 78.91 MT.
“During December 2022, CIL , SCCL and captive mines/others registered a growth of 3.57%, 17.89% and 8.85% by despatching 62.72 MT, 6.72 MT and 9.46 MT respectively. Power utilities despatch has increased by 4.26% to 65.65 MT during December 2022,” the ministry said.
Production of coal from April through December increased by 16.39% year over year to 607.97 MT.
In comparison to the same period last year, CIL recorded coal production of 479.05 MT up to December of FY23, an increase of 15.82%.
The coal ministry has put 141 additional coal blocks up for auction in order to increase the country’s capacity for producing coal. It has also been communicating regularly with different coal companies and keeping an eye on their output.
As part of the MMDR (Amendment) Act of 2021, the government also changed the Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules of 1960 to permit lessees of captive mines to sell up to 50% of the total excess production of coal or lignite after fulfilling the needs of the end-use plant.