Coal India to produce 710 million tonnes in current fiscal year

The Centre on Thursday set the target to Coal India Limited (CIL) to produce 710 million tonnes of coal during 2020-21 anticipating a surge in demand for electricity after the coronavirus lockdown period.

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Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi set these targets for the state-run company while reviewing its performance through video conference. The Minister also set the target to offtake, also the same 710 million tonnes of coal during the current fiscal.

“The demand of coal will pick up again after coronavirus lockdown, so I have directed CIL to keep the production and offtake targets at 710 MT for the financial year 2020-21 in line with its goal to achieve 1 billion tonne coal production by the year 2023-24,” Joshi said after the meeting.

While emphasizing the need for maintaining consistency in coal production throughout the year, the Minister also asked the company to provide quality coal to all consumers and make sure that sufficient coal is available at power plants during the year.

The company’s Over Burden (OB) removal target for the financial year 2020-21 was set in the meeting at 1580 million cubic meters in alignment with its 1 billion tonne coal production plans. OB removal refers to the removal of topsoil to expose the coal seams making them ready for mining.

The Minister also asked CIL management to approach the companies presently importing coal to cater to their demand and advised to chalk out a detailed plan to substitute the import of coal.

The state-owned CIL is supplying a sufficient quantity of coal to power plants which at present have stock of 28- days. CIL, which supplies 80 % coal demand of the country, produced 602.14 million tonnes of dry fuel during 2019-20 fiscal.

With sufficient available coal stock and smooth movement of freight trains following suspension of passenger trains due to lockdown, the Union Coal Ministry had earlier informed both power and non-regulated sectors that lifting of dry fuel allowed beyond contractual quantity.