Coal news and updates

 

The government-owned miner also plans to invest Rs 6,500 crore to set up power projects, revive a fertiliser plant and acquire coal blocks.

 

Coal India had spent Rs 7,700.06 crore in 2016-17.

 

"The capital expenditure for the year 2017-18 has been set at Rs 8,500 crore. Further, the company has plans to invest Rs 6,500 crore in various projects such as super critical thermal power plant, solar power, revival of fertiliser plants, coal gasification, acquisition of coal blocks in India & abroad, coal bed methane etc during 2017-18," the annual report of Coal India said.

 

Coal India's subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields is setting up a 1600 MW thermal power plant, which will source coal from the pitheads of Basundhara coalfields in the Sundergarh district of Odisha.

 

A company called Mahanadi Basin Power Limited has been formed for the power project.

 

The company has also formed a joint venture with other public sector undertakings to operate fertiliser units at Barauni, Sindri, Gorakhpur and Talcher.

 

Coal India is also scouting for coal block assets in Australia to source coking coal.

 

The public sector company produced 554.14 million tonnes of coal in 2016-17 while a combination of low demand, rainfall and mining related issues kept the capacity utilisation level at 84.51 per cent compared with 99.87 per cent during 2015-16.

 

In the current fiscal, the target of coal production has been set at 600 million tonnes. CIL has envisaged production of 908.10 mt in 2019-20 at a compounded annual growth rate of 12.98 per cent with respect to 2014-15.

 

Chairman Suthirtha Bhattacharya said the miner faced stiff targets in the years ahead.

 

"Going forward, in order to meet the production targets, Coal India needs to step up to a double-digit growth rate," he said.

 

The report said the company planned to diversify into renewable energy such as solar power and clean energy sources such as coal mine methane, coal bed methane, coal-to-liquid and underground coal gasification following the central government's directives.

 

The company's scrip closed marginally lower by Rs 1.60, or 0.67 per cent, on the BSE today.

 

Source: The Telegraph