State-run miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) has ended financial year 2021-22 (FY22) on a strong note by registering its highest-ever coal production and dispatch volumes, surpassing the previous record attained in FY18-19.
The company recorded production of 622.64 mnt, while dispatches were on the higher side, assessed at 661.85 mnt during last fiscal.
Dispatches, in particular, saw a significant jump on the back of unprecedented rise in power demand this year, after falling head-long in the previous fiscal over Covid-led demand disruptions.
Production, on the other hand, initially grew slowly but was gradually scaled up in the latter half. Evidently, production at 209.01 mnt were marked higher against dispatches of 180.2 mnt in the fourth quarter (January-March, 2022).
MCL scales new highs
Scripting a new milestone, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) attained both production and dispatches in excess of 160 mnt. In the process, it also became the country’s single largest coal producing company with an output of 168.17 mnt.
Following in the footsteps of MCL, majority of the subsidiaries recorded their all-time high production. In this regard, Eastern Coalfields (ECL) and South Eastern Coalfields were under-performers as they struggled to breach the production mark of the previous fiscal.
Other than this, notable performances came from Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) as it was the sole subsidiary to have achieved its assigned target of coal production and dispatches during the fiscal.
Quantity in mnt
Focus on reducing supply-demand gap
CIL has played a key role in ensuring uninterrupted power supply especially at a the time when inventory levels at the plants had fallen sharply and the country was at risk of facing major power outages.
However, work remains to be done in terms of catering to the requirement of the non-power sector whose supplies were curtailed in order to support the power sector.
Conditions at the power plants are likely to remain critical in tandem with higher coal consumption during the peak summer season followed by the monsoons when supplies are generally disrupted.
This, coupled with soaring prices in the global market, underlines that there is huge scope for CIL to fill in the supply gap.
It is important that the company does not take its foot off the gas and ensure higher dispatches are continued in the first quarter. At the same time, there is need to maintain healthy production rate in order to accumulate adequate inventory at the mines before the monsoon.
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