India’s coal production crosses 80 mnt in Dec’22

India’s coal production in December 2022 stood at 82.9 mnt, an increase of almost 11% y-o-y. Meanwhile, m-o-m growth was around 9%.

It is important to note that India’s coal production usually picks up after the monsoon season, peaks in March, and then gradually declines.

In this regard, the country’s coal production crossing 80 mnt in December is a significant achievement. In FY22, coal production could not cross the 80-mnt mark except in March. Production in December 2021 was less than 75 mnt, while in January and February of 2022 it was less than 80 mnt.

This demonstrates the country’s readiness to meet its growing energy needs, as well as maintain sufficient coal inventory for summer when power demand spikes.

Notably, the country had to aggressively import coal in the summer of 2022 amid domestic shortage.

Company-wise performance

Coal India Ltd. (CIL), which has an 80% share in the country’s coal production, registered a growth of 10% y-o-y. Its production stood at 66.4 mnt in December. The performance of some CIL subsidiaries are listed below:

• Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) achieved the highest 25% y-o-y growth rate in coal production in December.
• Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd’s (MCL) coal production increased by 5% y-o-y.
• South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), the country’s second-largest coal producer, added 2.6 mnt more coal in December than the previous year, an 18% increase.

On the other hand, Singareni Collieries Company Limited’s (SCCL’s) production stood at 6.7 mnt in December, an increase of 19% y-o-y. Moreover, coal production from captive miners stood at 9.7 mnt in December, an increase of 9% y-o-y.

India’s coal production surpasses 600 mnt in Apr-Dec’22

From April to December 2022, India produced 607 million tonnes of coal, a 16% increase y-o-y.

The highest growth rate of 30% y-o-y in the said period was achieved by captive miners; their production stood at 81 mnt.

CIL’s production rose to 479 mnt in April-December from 413 mnt, with 16% y-o-y growth during the same period of the previous year. All its subsidiaries posted double-digit growth during the period.

However, SCCL’s production rose marginally by 1.5% to 46.5 mnt during the period.