With less than four months left in the current fiscal, Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL), the flagship company of Coal India Limited (CIL), is facing an uphill task to meet its annual production target.
Power stations in seven states including Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal are dependent on coal from MCL mines to run their plants.
By the end of November, the company produced 60.45 million tonne as against the target of 70.26 million tonne. The annual target is fixed at 117 million tonne, making MCL the second largest coal company under Coal India umbrella.
The production by November end was only 3.4 per cent higher than the coal production (58.49 MT) during the same period last year.
But what is worrying the company is the slide in coal output in the Talcher coalfield, which accounts for sixty per cent of the company’s total coal output. Hingula area has performed the worst among all the mines of Talcher with 12 per cent drop in output compared to the last year. However, the Ib valley coalfield, consisting of coal mines at IB valley and Basundhara mines, showed growth in production during the April to November period, according to official records.
Out of the total production of 60.45 MT by MCL, Talcher coalfield produced 31.33 MT against the target of 45.09 MT. Last year this coalfield had produced 33.38 MT coal in the said period. But Ib valley field crossed its November target of 25.17 MT by producing 29.11 MT by the end of November while its output stood at 25.11 MT by this time last year.
“It is impossible on part of MCL to reach 117 MT by producing remaining 57 MT within the next four months”, said an official of the company. He said, “the Central government has to revise the target of the company as well as that of CIL on the basis of the performance till date”.
A K Singh, director, project and planning, MCL, said, “We do not have land for all the operating mines to operate at full capacity as they have already dug up to their boundary limits at many places”. He blamed the land problem as the main constraint behind the low output.
Besides land problem, there is law and order problem at mine sites in Talcher where local villagers, demanding jobs and peripheral development, have resorted to agitations and bandhs frequently affecting production of the company.
Badal Maharana, secretary, Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh, said “Lack of land and also lack of foresight by the current management of Talcher coalfield are responsible for low production at Talcher which mars the prospect of the company to reach its target”.
