Coal production target at more than 1 billion tonnes for FY24: Govt

The government on Wednesday said that it has set a coal production target of more than one billion tonnes (BT) for the next financial year.

Of the said target, state-owned CIL has been given the task to produce 780 MT of coal, followed by 75 MT for Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and 162 MT for captive and commercial mines.

"The ministry of coal targets to produce more than one billion tonne coal during the year 2023-24," the coal ministry said in a statement.

In a bid to achieve this aim, in-depth review has been carried out by coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena with all coal companies.

A total of 290 mines are operational in Coal India Ltd (CIL) out of which 97 mines produce more than one MT per year.

For all 97 such coal mines, issues of land acquisition, forest clearance, environment clearance, rail connectivity and road connectivity have been discussed and timelines fixed.

With continued effort of coal companies, out of 97 coal mines, there are no pending issues in 56 mines. Only 41 mines have 61 issues, for which continued co-ordination and monitoring is being carried out by top management of coal companies with concerned state government authorities and the central ministries.

CIL produced 622 MT of coal during FY22 and 513 MT have been produced so far in the current financial year.

It is expected that CIL will surpass the target of 700 MT fixed for current fiscal and accordingly will achieve 780 MT for the year 2023-24.

CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal production.