BHUBANESWAR: The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has clocked 168.17 million tonnes (MT) coal production in 2021-22, posting a 14 per cent (pc) increase over the previous fiscal.
The Coal India subsidiary has achieved 103 pc of the target set for the fiscal which ended on Thursday. It now has set a higher coal output target of 176 MT for 2022-23 fiscal, MCL CMD OP Singh said here.
Singh said the production target was initially 163 MT for 2021-22, but subsequently raised to 165 MT keeping in view the rise in demand of power and industry sectors. However, the MCL could scale up the coal production to an impressive 168 MT, ending the fiscal on a high note, he said.
The 2021-22 fiscal remained the year of achievements for MCL, as it set new milestones in all the performance parameters such as coal production, dispatch and overburden removal (OBR). The company dispatched 176.17 MT coal to the consumers in 2021-22, registering a growth of about 21 pc over the previous year.
It also registered more than 18 pc growth in OBR at 207 million cubic metres (MCuM) which is expected to boost production in the current fiscal. The capital expenditure (CAPEX) also remained `3,805 crore for 2021-22 fiscal compared to around `2,300 crore in the previous fiscal. MCL has also spent around `187 crore in CSR activities in 2021-22.
The CMD said 15 mining projects are operational at present with plans to operationalise two more projects Siarmal in Ib valley coalfield with a production capacity of 50 MTPA and Subhadra open cast project in Talcher coalfield with 25 MTPA in the near future. Singh said that MCL had been successful in meeting the rising demand of coal during the third quarter of last financial year despite challenges posed by the pandemic.