Coal news and updates

Coal India March output target set at 70 million tonnes

State-run Coal India will have to produce 70 million tonnes of coal in March and sell about 78 million tonnes in order to achieve its annual production and sales targets.

The company's production target for the current year is 507 million tonnes and sales target is 520 million tonnes. Going by the coal monopoly's performance in February, it is likely to miss them by at least 10 million tonnes and about 20 million tonnes, respectively.

Figures released for February suggest that the company managed to produce about 48 million tonnes and sold 43 million tonnes during the month.

CIL has clocked a nearly 7% growth in production for the period April 2014 to February 2015, while sales growth has dwindled at 3.5%, mainly on account of congestions in railway infrastructure and shortage of rakes, which are necessary for coal transportation.

It is likely that the company will see its coal stocks rise, as production may outstrip sales during the year.

source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com