State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) said it may miss the production target of 482 million tonnes (MT) for the 2013-14 fiscal. The country is facing acute fuel shortages.
"In the current fiscal, there may be a shortfall in the production of around 5 million tonnes," said Coal India Chairman and Managing Director S Narsing Rao. He said cyclone Phailin as well as law and order problems at its subsidiaries Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and Central Coalfields Ltd, as well as strong heat-wave conditions during summer and heavy monsoon rains which hurt production, would be among reasons for the likely shortfall.
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier asked the state-owned company to ensure that the output target for FY 2014 is met. Mining activities in around 6 coal blocks at Talcher Coalfields in Odisha, including coal transportation, came to a halt on November 29 following violence by a group of labourers protesting the arrest of some of their colleagues at Jagannath area in Angul district leading to a production loss of over 1 MT.
According to a CIL official, the PSU suffered production loss in October due to Cyclone Phailin, which affected the key coal producing states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. CIL, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic production, contributed 452.5 MT of coal in 2012-13 as against the target of 464 MT. During the fiscal year, CIL is likely to miss its output target by at least 17-18 million tonnes, which will be enough to produce 4,000 mw of thermal power. A ban on expanding two of its coalfields by the environment ministry may affect production.
"In the current fiscal, there may be a shortfall in the production of around 5 million tonnes," said Coal India Chairman and Managing Director S Narsing Rao. He said cyclone Phailin as well as law and order problems at its subsidiaries Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and Central Coalfields Ltd, as well as strong heat-wave conditions during summer and heavy monsoon rains which hurt production, would be among reasons for the likely shortfall.
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier asked the state-owned company to ensure that the output target for FY 2014 is met. Mining activities in around 6 coal blocks at Talcher Coalfields in Odisha, including coal transportation, came to a halt on November 29 following violence by a group of labourers protesting the arrest of some of their colleagues at Jagannath area in Angul district leading to a production loss of over 1 MT.
According to a CIL official, the PSU suffered production loss in October due to Cyclone Phailin, which affected the key coal producing states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. CIL, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic production, contributed 452.5 MT of coal in 2012-13 as against the target of 464 MT. During the fiscal year, CIL is likely to miss its output target by at least 17-18 million tonnes, which will be enough to produce 4,000 mw of thermal power. A ban on expanding two of its coalfields by the environment ministry may affect production.
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