Buoyed by the performance in April-May, the government today expressed hope that Coal India would meet its production target of 464 million tonnes for 2012-13 fiscal.
"Overall, I am satisfied with the performance of Coal India (CIL) ... After seeing the progress in production of the company in the month of April and May, I am hopeful that the PSU firm will achieve its annual target," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters here.
The minister, which reviewed the performance of CIL and its subsidiaries, Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Singareni Collieries Company today, also expressed hope that CIL would be able to achieve coal offtake and overburden removal target for 2012-13.
CIL produced 69.38 million tonne of coal in April-May this year, registering a growth of 5.6% over the same period in 2011-12. The PSU firm had produced 65.67 million tonne coal in the first two months of the last financial year.
"The production growth in April and May is 5.6% and the overburden removal growth is 10.3%," the minister said.
The coal offtake of CIL during both the months in the current fiscal was 76.53 million tonne over 72.8 million tonne in the same period last fiscal.
The company had achieved 435.84 million tonne in 2011-12 against the targeted 447 million tonne.
The PSU firm had stated that it would have to increase production by 6.5% to meet the output target for FY13. Its production grew by 3.5% in April over the same month last fiscal.