Coal India output grows 9.5% to record 60 MT in May; offtake rises 4% to 63.7 MT

State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) has reported a 9.5% year-on-year rise in monthly production to a record 60 million tonne (MT) in May 2023.

The miner, along with its subsidiaries, had produced 54.7 MT of coal in the same month last year, CIL said in a statement on Thursday.

“CIL’s May 2023 production rose to a record 60 MT, logging 9.5% growth over the same month last year with an increase of 5.2 MT. Considering the production for May generally hovers in the range of 40-48 MT, the CIL output surge in the current fiscal’s May was substantial. All the subsidiaries have listed positive growth,” the statement said.

Progressive production in April-May 2023 was 117.5 MT, 8.6% higher from 108.2 MT in the year-earlier period.

In May 2023, the total supplies rose to a healthy level of 63.7 MT, posting a 4.1% rise compared to 61.2 MT in May 2022.

For April-May 2023, the coal off-take was 126 MT, clocking 6.2% year-on-year growth compared to 118.6 MT of the same period last year.

CIL’s overburden (OBR) removal went up sharply to 178.2 million cubic metres (mcum) in May 2023, logging a robust 35% growth over May 2022, with all the subsidiaries achieving growth. During April-May FY24, CIL excavated 346 mcum of OBR, registering 32% growth.

According to the Ministry of Coal, in open-cast mines, coal can be extracted only after removing layers of soil, stone etc. This soil and stone etc are known as overburden. The removal of this overburden is known as overburden removal termed OBR and involves heavy cost.

“In an encouraging sign, supplies to the non-power sector at 22.3 MT posted 29% year-on-year growth ending May FY 2024. This is a jump of 5 MT in two-month compared to 17.3 MT in the same period a year ago.

“Already deep into summer, the domestic coal-based power plants, with the bulk of the supplies swelled by CIL, are comfortably stocked with 35 MTs of coal as of May-end,” CIL said.

The coal inventory at CIL’s pitheads is at 61 MT, the company said adding coal at private washeries, goods sheds, captive mines, ports and in transit accounts to the tune of 15 MT, there is sufficient coal buffer stock of around 111 MT.