Company will expand its ongoing projects in Magadh, Amrapali, Karo and Ashoka to boost production.
The Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) has registered a record 11.4 million tonnes of coal production, recording a growth of 13% till 11 July in the first quarter of the 2018-19 financial year. “It has registered a growth of 13% till 11 July,” CCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Gopal Singh said while addressing a press conference in Ranchi. Coal dispatch has also witnessed double digit growth of 11% with a dispatch of 17.7 of million tonnes of coal in the first quarter, he added.
Singh said that CCL will be expanding ongoing projects like Magadh, Amrapali, Karo and Ashoka which will boost coal production and environment clearance for new projects and expansion of projects are also in the pipeline which are expected to be cleared in the coming months. All this will help in increasing the overall production. In 2017-18, the overall production for the company had stood at 67.6 MT.
The coal production target of CCL for the current fiscal is 76.35 million tonnes and the company will be expanding its ongoing projects in Magadh, Amrapali, Karo and Ashoka to boost production. In the last financial year, capital expenditure of the company was Rs 899 crore against the target of Rs 650 crore, 38.30% more than the target.
“The inspiring guidance of Chief Minister Raghubar Das and business-friendly policies of the state government have facilitated our contribution to the state’s coffer in the shape of royalty to grow almost more than 50% in less than four years, from Rs 925 crore in 2014/15 to Rs 1501 crore in 2017/18 and is likely to touch Rs 2,000 crore in the current financial year,” he said.
He added that during the first quarter of the current fiscal (2018-19), the company has managed to achieve coal production of 11.4 MT compared to 10.1 MT which was registered in the corresponding period last year, showing a growth rate of 12%. On the other hand, coal dispatch also witnessed double digit growth of 11% with dispatch of 17.7 MT in this quarter compared to 15.9 in the same period of the corresponding year.
The CMD said that the company has added three new sidings, including Balumath, Rajdhar and New Kujju which will help in augmenting coal supplies to consumers, while with the completion of the Tori-Shivpur-Kathotia rail line, around 100 MT of coal will be evacuated annually from North Karanpura Coal Fields.