Govt raises Coal India’s output

The government has raised Coal India's production target by 5% to 630 million tonnes (mt) in 2018-19 from 600 mt in the current financial year, coal minister Piyush Goyal told the Rajya Sabha on Friday. In a written reply, the minister said against the target of 408.6 mt, Coal India produced 385.6 mt of coal till January 1 in the ongoing fiscal. From the production level of 554 mt in 2016- 17, the company is envisaged to raise its coal output to one billion tonne by 2020. Goyal said Coal India has identified mines with production capacity of 908 million tonne so far. Considering the demand of coal from various segments, while finalising the annual plan for 2017-18, Coal India was given the offtake target of 600 mt by the coal ministry. In the April-December period of 2017, total offtake stood at 421.41 mt, the minister said. To achieve the annual target, Coal India is required to increase its daily production to more than 2 mt during the remaining period of the ongoing financial year.