Coal news and updates

CIL board nod for 1-bn ton output by 2020

February 19: The board of directors of Coal India Limited (CIL) has given its in-principal approval to achieve 1 billion tons per annum coal production target by 2019-20 as envisaged by the Ministry of Coal.

“The proposal was discussed at the last board meeting and given an in-principal approval,” a senior official from the company told ICMW.

“The proposal has now been referred to the boards of subsidiary companies. Actually, all the subsidiaries have individual targets and it is basically the subsidiaries who will produce so it needs to be approved by their boards as well,” the official added.

Asked if logistics related issues to increase coal production to 1 billion tons too was discussed in the meeting, the official said, “The production plan is aligned with offtake plan and it was discussed in that line.”

To a query, the official said the off-take target to supply 1 billion tons coal annually is linked with commitments made on infrastructure front and those infrastructure projects also need to come up to achieve the targets.

“It is not that we have to just put in figures. But those (production and off-take targets) are related with infrastructure projects. All the infrastructure projects planned should also come like railway links and all those things to achieve the target,” the official added.

The official said the Ministry of Coal is actively pursuing infrastructure projects so that they are completed on time.