Though Coal India Ltd has managed to raise its production level in the current fiscal after witnessing an unpleasant start to the fiscal, country’s second largest independent coal producer Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) is still reeling under the impact of COVID-19.
Company’s coal production in the first nine months of fiscal remains 30% lower on the year marked at 32.66 mn t compared with 46.75 mn t recorded in the year-ago period. However, extending the growth on the monthly basis, output has crossed the 5 mn t mark for the first time in Dec ’20.
In the backdrop of economic and industrial activity coming back to near normalcy, production showed nominal improvement of 0.07% y-o-y to 5.72 mn t in Dec ’20, thereby ending a succession of negative growth seen in the past eight months.
Officials have attributed lock-down and heavy rains as the reason behind the production shortfall, owing to which the company has incurred estimated business loss of about INR 5,000 crore. Notably, mining operation at Kakatiya Khani mines was halted for two months in that period.
Company’s performance has not been up to the mark on the dispatch front too, as it is lagging behind the target with over 35% lower achievement in the nine months of this fiscal. Total dispatch during Apr-Dec ’20 has fallen 31% y-o-y to 31.79 mn t compared with 46.35 mn t in Apr-Dec ’19, mainly due to lower demand.
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