Coal India misses Q1 production target

State-run Coal India has missed its production target for the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, achieving an output of just 96.3 million tonnes (MT) of coal. 

The public sector firm missed the production target of 98.6 MT for the first quarter of the current financial year by 2.3 million tonnes, Parliament was informed. "The main reasons for the marginal shortfall in achievement of target include excessive rainfall, curfew and other disturbances caused for eviction drive... land acquisitions, as well as R&R issues," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha. Jaiswal also attributed the shortfall to delays in supply of equipment and evacuation problems in the Talcher coalfields in Orissa. Last month, Coal India Chairman N C Jha had also blamed early rains and inclement weather in the eastern region for playing spoilsport in achieving the target for the first quarter. However, Jha had exuded confidence that the Maharatna firm would achieve the 452 MT production target for the current fiscal. Facing environmental clearance delays on over 150 mining proposals, the world's largest coal miner had missed last fiscal's production target by recording an output of 431.325 MT, as against the revised target of 440.20 MT. Coal India, which accounts for more than 82 per cent of domestic coal production, had blamed the slippage against the target to delays in the grant of clearance for its projects. The Coal Ministry, too, has repeatedly expressed concern over such delays, saying procrastination on the part of the Ministry of Environment and Forests in granting clearances could result in a production loss of about 190 MT by March, 2012. Meanwhile the demand-supply gap for the dry-fuel is projected at 142 MT this fiscal and is likely to reach 200 MT by 2016-17.