Coal India may register de-growth in FY'20

Kolkata: Coal India Ltd may witness a de-growth in production in the current year as its output is expected to be lower than 607 million tonne achieved in the previous fiscal, sources said.

The production is likely to be at 602-603 million tonne in 2019-20, they said.

The miner is also likely to witness a decline in off- take in the current fiscal as compared to its 608 million tonne supply in the previous year, they said.

"Till March 28, the coal output was 591 million tonne and the company is likely to produce another 12 million tonne in the next three days, given the average output trend at present," sources told PTI.

Of late, the miner had ramped up daily production to reach closer to its target, they said.

Coal India had set an ambitious target of 660 million tonne of production and off-take for FY'20.

"The off-take was at 576.80 million tonne till March 28, registering a decline of 4 per cent over last year," the sources said.

The coal behemoth had supplied 608 million tonne of dry fuel to its consumers during 2018-19.

The coal off-take was less than what was projected in the current year due to a slowdown in the economy and as a result of which, the pit-head stock increased, they said, adding that the coal production was also hit by prolonged monsoon this year.

Of its seven coal producing subsidiaries, Northern Coalfields and Western Coalfields, however, had already surpassed their respective annual production target.

NCL aimed at 106.3 million tonne in the current fiscal, and as on March 28, its production was 106.50 million tonne, while WCL output stood at 56.20 million tonne as against a target of 56 million tonne.