Coal India would meet production target of FY13: Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the performance in April-May, the government today expressed hope that Coal India would meet its production target of 464 million tonnes for 2012-13 fiscal.

"Overall, I am satisfied with the performance of Coal India ( CIL) ... After seeing the progress in production of the company in the month of April and May, I am hopeful that the PSU firm will achieve its annual target," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters here.

The minister, which reviewed the performance of CIL and its subsidiaries, Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Singareni Collieries Company today, also expressed hope that CIL would be able to achieve coal offtake and overburden removal target for 2012-13.

CIL produced 69.38 MT of coal in April-May this year, registering a growth of 5.6 per cent over the same period in 2011-12. The PSU firm had produced 65.67 MT coal in the first two months of the last financial year.

"The production growth in April and May is 5.6 per cent and the overburden removal growth is 10.3 per cent," the minister said.

The coal offtake of CIL during both the months in the current fiscal was 76.53 MT over 72.8 MT in the same period last fiscal.

The company had achieved 435.84 MT in 2011-12 against the targeted 447 MT.

The PSU firm had stated that it would have to increase production by 6.5 per cent to meet the output target for FY13. Its production grew by 3.5 per cent in April over the same month last fiscal.