October 14, 2008
CIL subsidiaries suffer production loss
Coal India Limited has reported a production loss of 12.32 million tonnes between April 1st 2007 and September 18th 2007 with 6 of its 8 subsidiaries suffering major losses during this period. Among the subsidiaries, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited and Eastern Coalfields Limited have suffered the most with a shortfall standing at over 67% of the total loss at 8.33 million tonnes.
The CIL subsidiaries, which suffered production loss, are
| Coalfields | Production | Target |
| Mahanadi Coalfields Limited | 33.51 | 37.13 |
| Eastern Coalfields Limited | 8.99 | 13.70 |
| Bharat Coking Coal Limited | 9.37 | 10.59 |
| Central Coalfields Limited | 13.59 | 16.30 |
| Western Coalfields Limited | 18.01 | 18.34 |
| North Eastern Coalfields | 0.32 | 0.62 |
The only 2 subsidiaries who maintained production were Northern Coalfields Limited, achieving 24.32 million tonnes as against target of 23.99 million tonnes and South Eastern Coalfields Limited, achieving a figure more than the target of 38.88 million tonnes by 0.28 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, ministry of coal had convened an urgent meeting on how to tackle the problem. Coal pithead stocks were currently in the region of 25 million tonnes. Coal India could fail to meet demand this year if the trend persisted. Ministry of coal and CIL officials were caught off guard by the decline in production.
CIL set a target of 385 million of production in 2007-08 as against a country wide demand of 474 million tonnes. CIL last year produced 363 million tonnes of coal as against a target of 425 million. The deficit was met by imports and other coal producing units like Singareni and captive mining.
