India’s coal production increased by 16.39% to 607.97 MT during Apr-Dec’22, compared to 522.34 MT during the same period in FY 22. During FY 23, CIL reported coal production of 479.05 MT compared to 413.63 MT during FY 22, an increase of 15.82%.
The Ministry of Coal has released more coal on the market by utilizing the mining capacity of captive coal blocks more, so the production of coal by Captive and Other companies increased by 31.38% from 62.19 MT during FY 22 to 81.70 MT during Apr-Dec’22. Also, the Ministry amended the Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 1960 under the MMDR (Amendment) Act, 2021 to let lessees of captive mines sell up to 50% of their excess coal/lignite after meeting the end-user requirements.
Under PM Gati Shakti, the Ministry is upgrading rail infrastructure for all major mines to ensure faster evacuation. This results in a total coal despatch of 637.51 MT during Apr-Dec’22, which represents a growth of 7.28 % as compared to 594.22 MT during the same period of FY 22, which shows steady and efficient coal despatch to various sectors across the nation.
In order to increase coal production capacity, the Ministry of Coal has put 141 new coal blocks up for auction and has been engaging with various coal companies and monitoring their progress. All-round efforts to increase domestic production and despatch have been successful.