Coal Production on Schedule: CIL Likely to Achieve FY17 Production Target

Coal India Limited (CIL) is expected to achieve its production target for FY17 as operations of most of the coal mines are on schedule, albeit lower production.

In a recent review by the Coal Ministry on the status of functioning of the coal mines in the country, it was found that in the 79 coal mines allocated the last year, the production was at 22 MnT, up from the production of 20 MnT in FY16.

The 79 mines were divided into Schedule-II producing mines and Schedule-III operational mines. Out of the 34 producing mines auctioned to private players and allotted to state governments, 10 have started production; but, 7 mines spread across Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are struck in state level clearances and judicial matters.

The review also established that Schedule-III mines, for which production has to be started from scratch, are also functioning steadily. Barring the three such mines- Ganeshpur, Miral and Majra — the rest 38 are functioning in accordance to schedule.

According to the extant rules, Schedule-II mines are supposed to achieve at least 90% of the annual scheduled production or attain the rated capacity as per the approved mining plan, in case of opencast mines. The mandate for underground mines is 80% of the annual scheduled production or reaching the rated capacity as per the approved mining plan.

Except Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have commenced the mining operations in respect to the allocated mines. The Jharkhand state government says that due diligence is being performed prior to starting mining operations.