In a significant development, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said that India achieved the milestone of dispatching 1 billion tonnes (bt) of coal and lignite in the current financial year, a first for the government.
“Thanks to the visionary #GatiShakti policy launched by PM @narendramodi ji, India’s coal mining sector has achieved a milestone by breaching 1 BT coal & lignite dispatch, for the first-time in history. Undertaking massive infrastructure expansion and boosting multi-modal connectivity in the mining sector have helped in improving logistics efficiency, thus resulting in faster evacuation of coal and lignite. #Mission1BT,” Joshi tweeted on X.
On February 27, Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena told businessline, “Our endeavour is that during the remaining 30-35 days, the production is further ramped up. Till February 26, we achieved 861.31 million tonnes (mt) of coal production. Currently, we are producing 34 lakh tonnes daily and it will further ramp up in March. I am hopeful that we will touch 1 bt. In terms of dispatch, cumulative is 865.30 mt. So, we are aiming for 1 bt of both production and dispatch.”
Dispatch up
Coal dispatch witnessed a significant boost during February 2024, reaching an impressive 84.78 mt (provisional) compared to the 74.61 mt recorded in February 2023, with a growth rate of 13.63 per cent.
Coal India (CIL) dispatch demonstrated outstanding performance, reaching 65.3 mt (Provisional) in February 2024, compared to 58.28 mt in February 2023, a growth of 12.05 per cent.
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The cumulative coal dispatch (April-February) has witnessed a significant increase to 882.44 mt (Provisional) in FY24 as compared to 794.41 mt during the corresponding period in FY23 with a growth of 11.08 per cent.
On March 22, the world’s second largest coal consumer surpassed the milestone of producing one billion tonnes of coal and lignite.
The world’s second largest producer, after China, has also launched the integrated coal logistics plan to cater to the requirement of the coal sector for peak production up to 2047.