New Delhi: Coal India Ltd (CIL) recorded a decline in coal offtake in November even as production improved marginally over the same month last year. According to provisional figures, offtake stood at 62.7 million tonnes (MT) in November, down from 62.9 MT a year ago, marking a 0.3 percent fall.
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This drop came despite CIL’s coal production rising to 68.0 MT from 67.2 MT, an increase of 1.2 percent. The mismatch between output and dispatches places offtake under pressure at a time when key subsidiaries reported uneven performance.
While CIL’s aggregate production saw a modest rise, several subsidiaries posted steep declines in November. Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) produced 4.3 MT, down from 4.6 MT (-5.7 percent). Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) fell to 2.9 MT from 3.4 MT (-13.9 percent). Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) slipped to 11.9 MT from 12.8 MT (-6.8 percent), and Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) declined to 5.1 MT from 6.3 MT (-18.6 percent).
Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) posted a marginal increase to 7.4 MT from 7.3 MT, while performance was substantially stronger at South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), where production rose to 15.8 MT from 13.3 MT (18.6 percent), and at Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), which grew to 20.5 MT from 19.5 MT (5.4 percent). North Eastern Coalfields (NEC) recorded 0.02 MT, down from 0.03 MT, reflecting a sharp 32.5 percent decline.
Offtake fell across several operations. CIL’s total offtake declined to 62.7 MT from 62.9 MT, with ECL dropping to 3.4 MT from 4.0 MT (-16.6 percent). BCCL’s offtake decreased to 2.9 MT from 3.3 MT (-11.7 percent), and CCL edged up slightly to 6.6 MT from 6.3 MT (4.1 percent). NCL saw a fall to 11.3 MT from 12.2 MT (-7.3 percent), while WCL’s offtake dropped to 5.1 MT from 5.9 MT (-14.2 percent).
SECL posted an increase to 15.6 MT from 13.6 MT (14.3 percent). MCL reported 17.9 MT, up from 17.5 MT (2.1 percent). NEC recorded negligible offtake, in line with last year.
For the April–November period, CIL’s cumulative production stood at 453.5 MT, down from 471.0 MT, a 3.7 percent decline. The trend reflects substantial contractions at several subsidiaries: BCCL (-16.3 percent), CCL (-14.1 percent) and WCL (-11.7 percent). ECL fell slightly to 28.3 MT from 28.8 MT (-1.7 percent).
At the same time, SECL and MCL continued to lift the group’s output profile. SECL produced 100.6 MT, up from 97.2 MT (3.5 percent), and MCL delivered 133.7 MT, compared with 139.5 MT last year (-4.2 percent but still the highest among subsidiaries).
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CIL’s cumulative offtake for the period dropped to 478.9 MT from 488.5 MT, reflecting a 2 percent decline. ECL, BCCL, CCL, WCL and NEC reported lower offtake, while SECL and NCL registered moderate gains.