Coal production target set at 170 million tonnes for 2024-25

The government of India has set a target to produce 170 million tonnes of coal from captive and commercial coal blocks in the country during the 2024-25 financial year. The target is 26 per cent higher from 116 MT produced in 2023-24.

The target for coal production for Coal India Limited in 2024-25 is one billion tonnes from Coal India Limited mines.

Coal Mines in India 

In India, the coal sector was nationalised under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act of 1973.

Government of India owned Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries companies had the monopoly over the production of coal in India. Later the government of India allowed the participation of the private sector in the coal mining in India. Private sector participation in the coal sector can be divided into captive mining and commercial mining of coal.

Captive coal mines 

The Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act,1973 was amended in 1993 permitting private sector participation in captive coal mining. Private companies were allocated coal mines for specific end use. 

The captive mining of coal is allowed to companies engaged in

•  Production of Iron & Steel
• Generation of Power and
• Manufacture of Cement.

Commercial Coal Mines 

The government of India allowed the participation of the private sector in the coal mining sector after the  passage of the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act, 2020. Private companies are offered coal blocks which they mine and sell to any users in India.

Coal production by captive and commercial mines in 2023-24

According to the Union Ministry of Coal, the total production of coal by the captive and commercial mines was 147.2 million tonnes. Out of the 147.2 million tonnes of coal produced:

• The private sector mines produced around 121.3 million tonnes of coal.
• Captive mines of the non-power sector produced 8.4 million tonnes of coal,
• Commercial mines produced 17.5 million tonnes of coal

India is the second largest producer of coal in the world after China. India has the 4th largest known coal reserves in the world .

However, despite being the second largest producer of coal in the world, India also imports coal, especially the coking coal used by the steel industries and thermal grade coal used by the power sector. 

According to the government of India, the import of coal rose to 244.27 million tonnes in the April-February 2023-24 period from 227.93 million tonnes during the same time period last year.