After four months of sustained coal crisis, Coal India could finally push production figures marginally ahead of sales in November. However, that does not mean the company could meet the demand as non-power consumers are receiving less coal than last year. According to company releases, CIL ended November with 2.6 per cent higher production than the same period last year at 51.29 million tonne (mt). This is marginally ahead of the monthly offtake of 50.68 mt, up by 5.6 per cent over last year. Production growth during the first eight months stands at a paltry 1.8 per cent.

CIL was surviving the demand push by diluting its mammoth pithead stock so far. The miner started the fiscal with an inventory of 68 mt which is now down to less than half at 29.7 mt. Maintaining high pithead is a costly exercise. Considering the sustained demand push, CIL should end the year with a low stock than usual.

Except Northern Coalfields (NCL), Western Coalfields (WCL) and South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) all other mining subsidiaries - including the Central Coalfields – reported lower production than last year during the April-November period.

Among the large miners, NCL reported 16 per cent production growth during the eight-month period. SECL posted four per cent growth. MCL’s production remains marginally lower than last year. The three subsidiaries together contribute approximately 70 per cent of the annual production.

Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL) is the worst performer with production down by close to 17 per cent during April-November 2017.

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