New Delhi: Coal India Limited (CIL), the country’s largest coal producer, will be aiming to touch 1 Billion Tonnes (BT) of coal production by FY2026-27, said Minister for Coal G Kishan Reddy on Monday. CIL achieved a provisional coal production of 781.07 million tonnes (MT) in FY 2024–25, registering a marginal increase from 773.81 MT recorded in the previous fiscal.

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This information was given by Reddy in a written reply in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The minister informed the House that India’s total domestic coal production reached 1,047.67 MT in FY'25, marking a growth of 4.99 percent over 997.83 MT in FY24. CIL’s share remains central to this growth trajectory, with the company projected to increase output to 875 MT in FY26, 1,004 MT in FY27, and further scale up to 1,131 MT by FY2030.

The government expects domestic coal production to grow annually at a rate of 6–7 percent, reaching approximately 1.5 billion tonnes by 2029–30. Most of India’s coal demand is met through domestic production, with imports largely limited to essential coking coal and high-grade non-coking coal due to limited local availability.

CIL is also adopting mass production technologies (MPT) such as Continuous Miners in underground mines, developing highwall and large-capacity underground mines, and deploying state-of-the-art equipment in opencast operations, said the minister. These steps are aimed at enhancing productivity, operational efficiency, and safety.

The coal ministry has also launched a Coking Coal Mission to boost supply to the steel sector, thereby reducing import dependency. Additional efforts include enhancing the Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) for power plants and launching an Import Monitoring System to track and substitute non-essential coal imports.

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