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Coal India Ltd Q4 profit drops 52% to Rs 1,295 cr

New Delhi: Coal India Ltd, the country's largest miner, on Tuesday posted 52.3 per cent dip in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,295.30 crore for the fourth quarter of last fiscal ended March 31, on higher employee cost.
It had reported profit of Rs 2,718.8 crore in the January-March quarter of the preceding fiscal 2016-17, the state-owned company said in a BSE filing.
The company's income increased to Rs 28,909.3 crore, over Rs 26,633.89 crore.
The consolidated expenses of the company during March quarter were at Rs 27,757.10 crore, as against Rs 22,352.70 crore.
"Post applicability of Goods and Services Tax (GST)...revenue from operations are disclosed net of GST. Accordingly, the revenue from operations and total expenses for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2018 are not comparable with the corresponding previous periods presented in the results," the filing said.
The company's employee benefits expense in the quarter under review were at Rs 16,653.86 crore, as against Rs 9,240.67 crore, the filing said.
The consolidated gross sales of the PSU during the quarter was at Rs 37,494.6 crore, registering an increase of 5.8 per cent.
CIL's production for the year ended March 31, 2018 was up at 567.3 million tonnes (MT), as against 554.14 MT a year earlier.
CIL, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output, has pegged its production estimate at 630 million tonne for 2018-19.
The CIL stock fell nearly 1 per cent to Rs 282.15 on BSE.
"We are the world's largest coal producer, but we wish to be the most-efficient coal miner," newly-appointed CIL Chairman and Managing Director Anil Kumar Jha has said.
Jha, however, acknowledged that it would be difficult, due to the socio-economic situation of India compared with some of the efficient coal players like Australia.
"Our socio-economic situation is different. When we open a mine, there is huge demand for employment. The land losers want nothing but employment. Despite this, MCL (Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd) pays compensation of Rs 16 lakh in lieu of employment, but villagers demand employment," he said.
Jha had served as the chairman of CIL's most profitable subsidiary, MCL.
He further said that manpower engaged with Coal India is three to four times than that of an Australian mine, owing to the large demand for employment.
Moreover, CIL also invests in infrastructure development for its neigbhourhood areas to fulfil the demand for water, health and education needs of locals around the mines, so that all stakeholders get a share of profit from the miner, Jha said.
The top CIL official said the mining major is striving to bring down the cost of production to a "bare minimum", but added that he would require some time to prepare a roadmap towards these goals without compromising on social factors.
Jha said he had already approved opening of price bids for ERP implementation, which was delayed for quite a few months.
He also asserted that no power plant will suffer due to shortage of coal.
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