The Coal Ministry on Thursday said that it expects to dispatch more than 1 billion tonnes (bt) of coal in the current financial year, of which half has already been dispatched till October 17 this year.

“During second half of the year, the rate of production and dispatch is normally higher than the first half of the year. It is, therefore, expected that this year the dispatch of coal would exceed the one-billion-tonne mark,” the Ministry said.

In FY24, the Ministry has set a target to produce and dispatch 1,012 million tonnes (mt) of coal to consumers, which includes power plants and the non-regulated sector industries such as steel and sponge iron.

“Achieving record high performance, the Ministry has been able to dispatch 500 mt coal as on October 17, 2023. Dispatch of 500 mt in 200 days, despite the monsoon season, in the first half of the year, is an outstanding achievement,” it said.

During FY23, the 500-mt coal dispatch milestone was achieved on November 9, 2022. Thus, during the current year, the 500-mt dispatch mark has been achieved 23 days in advance, it added.

It is to be noted that out of 500 mt of coal dispatch, 416.57-mt dispatch is for the power sector and 84.77-mt for NRS industries. The growth of coal transport to power sector year-to-year is 7.27 per cent and growth to NRS year-to-year is 38.02 per cent. Last year as on March 31, 2023, 893.19 mt was dispatched.

It is to be highlighted that Coal India, Singareni Collieries Company and captive/ commercial mines all have contributed to this historical achievement of the Coal Ministry.

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