Govt to allot 10 mines to Coal India in 2019 to push output, close demand-supply gap

New Delhi: To keep up with the fast-growing demand for coal which far outweighed the supply in 2018, the government is planning to allot 10 mines to state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) in 2019. The coal production is likely to rise next year as out of the 85 mines that have already been allotted, 23 have started production and the CIL expects 20 more to begin production by March 2019.

The government is, therefore, hoping that the coal production is going to increase substantially next year and will help them tide over the current shortage that is plaguing both power and non-power sector. The 10 mines that the Centre plans to allot to CIL next year will be in addition to the other 10 mines that were given away this year.

Coal Joint Secretary Ashish Upadhyaya told a news agency, "Our aim is to make all subsidiaries (of CIL) 100 million tonnes plus units in the long term." He said that the government is committed to making coal available as per the demand in 2019 and has set a target of 10 percent growth rate for the next fiscal.

Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of the total domestic coal output.