Captive coal production rises 26% in Apr-Sept

Coal production from captive mines in the first half of the ongoing fiscal have increased by 25.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 26.1 million tonne (MT) from the corresponding period in FY19. However, half of the production came from two mines (Moher and Moher Amlori extension and Bakri Barwadih) whose licences were not cancelled by the Supreme Court in its September, 2014 order.

According to provisional data submitted by the coal controllers organisation, coal blocks reallocated since 2015 increased their production by 33% y-o-y to 12.9 MT in the April-September period. Out of the total 218 coal mines, the apex court had cancelled the licences of 204 captive blocks, saying that these had been allocated in an illegal and arbitrary manner.