Recovering from the Covid setback, domestic miners have stepped up coal production to meet the rising coal demand in the country.
Coal production increased 8% y-o-y to 155.86 million tonnes (mn t) during the first quarter (Apr-Jun ’21) of FY ’22 compared to 144.33 mn t seen in the same quarter last fiscal year, according to provisional data provided by the Ministry of Coal.
However, further growth in coal output was restricted due to excessive stockpiles, with miners recording higher dispatches in an attempt to liquidate their inventory. Incidentally, total coal dispatches at 195.23 mn t in the first quarter was around 40 mn t higher than in the corresponding period last fiscal.
Company-wise coal production
The country’s largest coal miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), recorded a meagre growth in production of 2% y-o-y to 124 million tonnes (mn t) during the first quarter compared to 121 mn t seen in the same quarter last fiscal.
The lower production was primarily due to lower-than-expected coal dispatches rather than any operational shortcoming, as the company’s share in India’s overall coal production receded to 80% in the first quarter of FY ’22 from 84% recorded in the year-ago quarter.
Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL), which is the second-largest coal producer, saw a notable progress in coal production. The company’s production grew 64% y-o-y to 15.57 mn t in the first quarter.
Coal production by ‘others’
Apart from these two major coal miners, the country’s coal production also includes contribution from small-scale producers which is a mixed bag of merchant and captive coal miners.
Higher production levels have been maintained by these miners in each of the three months of the quarter under review, as total output in the first quarter rose 18% y-o-y to 16.31 mn t, which was even higher than the production reported by SCCL.
However, there has not been a significant improvement from these miners. Notably, coal production from other sources (excluding CIL/SCCL) accounted for a mere 10% of the country’s overall coal production.
Delays regarding land acquisition and sanction of other statutory clearances have proved to be additional hurdles for captive miners in starting production. In fact, since the start of the new fiscal, only Durgapur Project has managed to commence coal mining from its Trans Damaodar coal block.
Going forward, the country is expected to expedite coal production, relying majorly on CIL as the government aims to curb costlier imports, which grew 47% y-o-y to 62.58 mn t in the first quarter of FY ’22, as per data compiled by CoalMint Research.
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