CIL sees 17% jump in composite opencast output in July

Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Monday said it has clocked a 17 per cent growth in composite opencast production in July over the same month a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, coal production slipped 4.69% and coal offtake advanced 4.27% compared with last month. The disclosure was made on Saturday, 1 August 2020.

The company is also expecting the production to rise post-monsoon in view of the positive growth trend in the Over Burden Removal (OBR). OBR implies removing topsoil to expose the coal seams and make them mining ready.

The composite product of the company was 110.40 million cubic metres (M CuM) for July, against 94.4 M CuM in July 2019, CIL said in a statement. This is the sum total of OBR and the amount of coal produced through opencast mines.

According to a senior executive of Coal India limited “For CIL which relies on opencast mines for 95 per cent of its entire annual coal output, OBR is a crucial performance indicator which exposes the coal seam for future production at short notice”.

CIL’s OBR alone in July 2020 surged by 23.1 per cent over the same month a year ago, and progressive July 2020 OBR growth jumped by 12.4 per cent. Coal India has excavated 88.46 M CuM of OBR in July this year as against 71.85 M CuM in July 2019, the PSU said in a statement.

In terms of volume, CIL arm Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) accounted for more than a third of Coal India’s entire OBR, registering a growth of 36.7 per cent in July 2020.

Shares of Coal India skid 0.31% to Rs 128.95 on BSE. Coal India is a coal mining company, which is engaged in the production and sale of coal. As of 31 March 2020, the Government of India held 66.13% stake in the company