Coal India has reported a 32 per cent growth in offtake in September 2020, marking a sharp contrast with the performance in the recent past.
Thanks to the impressive performance in September 2020, the second quarter (July to September) of FY21 showed a year-on-year offtake growth of 9.7 per cent. Offtake during this quarter stood at 134.31 million tonnes as against 122.44 million tonnes in the same quarter of FY20.
In the first quarter (April to June) of FY21, coal offtake by CIL had recorded a sharp fall of 21.4 per cent. Offtake dropped to 120.62 million tonnes from 153.49 million tonnes in the first quarter of FY20.
The first half (April to September) of FY21 closed with a year-on-year fall of 7.6 per cent in offtake. The 9.7 per cent growth in the second quarter was offset by the 21.4 per cent decline in the first.
In the first half of FY21, all subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd, with the exception of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), showed a decline in offtake. MCL saw offtake improve by 5.9 per cent, from 63.96 million tonnes in the first half of FY20 to 67.75 million tonnes in the corresponding period of FY20. MCL was also the biggest contributor to CIL’s overall offtake in the first half of FY21, with a share of 26.5 per cent. South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) was the next biggest contributor with offtake of 61.69 million tonnes, accounting for 24.2 per cent of CIL’s total offtake.
In FY20, CIL offtake was down 4.3 per cent to 581.73 million tonnes from 608.14 million tonnes in FY19.
Production
Coal India Ltd produced 602.14 million tonnes of coal in FY20, which was 0.8 per cent lower than the 606.89 million tonnes produced in FY19, Production in FY20 was 91 per cent of the target set. CIL has set a target of attaining production of 1 billion tonnes by FY24. This growth in production is expected to come from the 49 new mine development projects identified in FY20. These new mines, when developed, are expected to contribute 485.84 million tonnes of coal per year, by FY24.
Share in primary energy
According to information available, Coal India Ltd has a share of around 83 per cent in India’s overall coal production. Coal mining and production, it may be mentioned, is now opened to private sector participation. An estimated 57 per cent of India’s total primary commercial energy is coal-dependent. CIL meets an estimated 40 per cent of India’s total primary commercial energy requirement. The share of coal in India’s primary commercial energy requirement is expected to remain dominant at 48-54 per cent, till 2040, according to CIL estimates.
Featured photograph sourced from Coal India Ltd shows mining operations in an underground mine.
