Coal news and updates

Captive coal production levels barely at 6 mt till Oct

India Coal Market Watch

 November 20: Even as the government plans to auction a new set of eight captive coal mines, production of this fossil fuel from the mines that were earlier e-auctioned continues to falter, with only six of them reporting total production volumes of around 6 million tons (mt) during the first seven months (April-October) of the current year (2015-16).

 According to information available with ICMW, the producing coal blocks are Talabira-I, Sarisatoli, Amelia North, Parsa East, Kanta Basan and Belgaon.

 While some of these started production in April, others resumed output in the subsequent months. The individual production figures were not immediately available.

 Commenting on the slow progress in captive production, a coal ministry official recently said that all the 42 producing captive blocks, which were freshly given to new allottees through e-auction, are expected to resume production by the end of the current financial year. But, going by the current scenario, it looks slightly difficult, if not impossible.

In 2014-15, captive coal production increased by around 34% to 52.77 mt, against 39.48 mt achieved in the previous year.