Despite phase-down talks, all coal PSUs achieve record prod in Jharkhand

RANCHI: Despite talks of phase-down to achieve net zero target by 2070, major coal companies in Jharkhand have registered record production last year. Enthused by overshooting targets, coal PSUs have set higher targets for next fiscal.
Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) and Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), both Jharkhand-based subsidiaries of Coal India Limited and National Thermal Power Corporation’s coal mining division, have claimed to have scripted history in terms of overshooting targets.
While CCL claimed to have achieved the highest performance in coal production, dispatch and overburden removal (OBR) since its inception, BCCL with 19% growth than previous year is CIL’s best performer. NTPC, on the other hand, has clocked 65% year-on-year growth with the coal production of 23.20 million tonnes in this fiscal as compared to 14.02 million tonnes in the previous fiscal.
Addressing the media, CMD, CCL P M Prasad said that the company witnessed a double-digit growth in coal production compared to the last fiscal to surpass the annual target of 76 MT for FY 23. “The production stood at 76.09 MT as against the target of 75MT. The company’s dispatch and OBR also rose to an all-time high of 75.03MT and 107 MCuM in FY 23,” he said.
Asked as to how the coal companies are registering growth when fossil fuels are fast being replaced by renewable energy sources, Prasad said that phase down was a gradual process.
NTPC chairman and MD Gurdeep Singh in a press statement said the four operational coal mines viz. Pakri-Barwadih (Jharkhand), Chatti Bariatu (Jharkhand), Dulanga (Odisha) and Talaipalli (Chhattisgarh) have contributed to accomplish 65 million tone production which is the highest ever annual coal production of since inception.