Coal India capex goes up by 65% in Q1 of FY’23

New Delhi: Sustaining its growth in capital expenditure (CAPEX) for the ninth quarter on the trot, Coal India Limited (CIL) achieved a sturdy 65 percent growth in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2022-23 (FY'23) over the comparable quarter last year.

Coal India's capex jumped to Rs 3,034 crore during April-June 2022 compared to Rs 1,841 crore of April-June 2021 resulting in a sizeable Rs 1,193 crore volume increase. "The CAPEX increase came on the back of strong spending in acquiring land and strengthening transport infrastructure in our coalfields under first-mile connectivity projects. These two vital areas help CIL in expanding its mining operations for accelerated production and pairing it with seamless transportation of coal," said a senior official of the company.

Land acquisition at Rs 608 crore accounted for nearly one-fifth of the first quarter's total capex basket. This represents a close to a 2.3-fold increase compared to Rs. 268 crores spent under this head during April- June 2021. The expenditure was spread across all the subsidiaries of Coal India.

Capex under FMC projects, on the construction of coal handling plants, silos including weighbridges totalled to Rs 577 crore during the quarter under reference. This is a four-fold increase compared to Rs 141 crore spent in Q1 of the last financial year. Rail sidings and laying of rail corridors took up Rs 571 crore during Q1 FY'23 clocking 57 per cent growth. On a like-to-like comparison the expenditure under this head
was Rs 363 crore.

Both the evacuation logistics projects put together at Rs 1,148 crore accounted for more than one-third or 38 per cent of the total CAPEX of Rs 3,034 crore in the first quarter.

Another significant CAPEX head was joint ventures, Hindustan Urvarak Rasayan Limited and Talcher Fertilizers Limited which consumed Rs 518 crore. HURL's Gorakhpur plant has already started production whereas Sindri and Barauni plants will become operational during the fiscal.

"CIL's production tempo is keeping up a consistent double-digit growth in FY'23 so far and all efforts are on to continue the trend. What assumes importance is to have a matching evacuation infrastructure that can handle transportation of the increased output", said the executive.

Even during the Covid-19 lockdown, Coal India's CAPEX spending witnessed a steady quarter-wise increase.

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