India's Coal Output Rises 12% to 881 mn Tonnes in Apr-Feb

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) India's coal production rose 12 per cent to 880.72 million tonne in April-February this fiscal and is short of nearly 120 million tonnes from achieving its target of 1 billion tonnes for FY25, according to government data.

The country's coal production stood at 785.39 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

During 2022-23, India's total coal output was 893 million tonnes.

The government had set a target to produce 1 billion tonne of coal in the current financial year.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Coal said the cumulative coal production in April-February 2024 grew 12 per cent to 880.72 million tonnes (provisional) compared to 785.39 million tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year.

As per the data, the country's coal production rose 12 per cent in February to 96.60 million tonne compared to 86.38 million tonnes in the same month last year.

In February, the production of state-owned firm Coal India Ltd (CIL) rose 8 per cent to 74.76 million tonnes (provisional) from 68.78 million tonnes in February 2023, the ministry said.

The cumulative coal dispatch during April-February increased over 11 per cent to 882.44 million tonnes from 794.41 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

The coal dispatch grew 13.63 per cent to 84.78 million tonnes in February from 74.61 million tonnes in February 2023.

Coal India Limited (CIL) dispatch was 12 per cent higher at 65.3 million tonnes in February 2024 than 58.28 million tonnes a year ago.

India is among the top five producers and users of coal in the world.