Coal India's supply to power sector up 7% at 336 MT in Apr-Jan

State-owned CIL's supply of coal to the power sector increased by 6.7 to 336 million tonnes during the first 10 months of the ongoing fiscal amid the government aiming to provide round the clock electricity.

The company, which accounts for over 80% of the domestic coal production had dispatched 314.84 million tonnes (MT) of the dry fuel April-January previous fiscal, official data showed.

The supply by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) in April-January increased by 25.4% to Rs 39.63 MT, over 31.61 MT in the same period last fiscal.

The dispatch by CIL in January also increased to 36.84 MT over 34.63 MT in the same month of 2015, it added.

The increase in coal dispatch is due to rise in output by CIL and SCCL, improvement in the evacuation and opening up of the new mines among others, experts said.

Strong emphasis on increasing coal production has resulted in a record 9.8% growth in CIL's coal production and highest ever output of coal. This has also led to reduced imports of coal, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.

The government is eyeing to achieve 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production by 2020. Of this, Coal India is looking at an output target of one billion tonnes.

The government had set a production target of 550 million tonnes for the CIL for the current fiscal.

The government is aiming to provide 24x7 power by 2019 by creating cost-effective infrastructure which will be sustainable and inclusive of clean energy solutions.