Coal news and updates

Sept output from India’s captive blocks up 30% y-o-y

October 29: As expected, coal production from the captive blocks in India rose 29.72% to 5.02 million tons (mt) in September 2014 compared to 3.87 mt recorded in the corresponding month of 2013, according to provisional data available with ICMW.

Contrary to general expectations, ICMW had earlier reported that production from captive coal blocks would not be affected in the aftermath of de-allocation of the blocks by the Supreme Court in view of the fact that end-use plants (EUPs) would not be allowed to shut down for want of coal.

The latest figures suggest that ICMW’s report was correct.

However, a clear picture would emerge once the production figures for the month of October are out, ICMW understands.

However, on a month-on-month basis, production from captive blocks during the month fell by 2.52% compared to 5.15 mt in August 2014, the data revealed.

During the first six months of 2014-15, coal production from the captive blocks stood at 32.18 mt, up 27.45% from 25.25 mt recorded in the same period of the last fiscal. 

The target for the first six months was 34.12 mt, which means output from the captive blocks during the month for the first six months fell short by 5.68% or 1.94 mt.

The production target for the captive blocks for the month of September was 5.69 mt, same as in August, July and June.

The annual production target for the captive blocks in 2014-15 stands at 68.25 mt.