WCL surpasses target for FY20 with record coal production

WCL surpasses target for FY20 with record coal production

WCL has surpassed its coal production target for FY20 and has also registered the highest-ever production in a single day on March 31

New Delhi: WCL (Western Coalfields Limited), a subsidiary of CIL (Coal India Limited), has surpassed its coal production target for FY2019-20 by a comfortable margin and has also registered the highest-ever production in a single day on March 31 even as India is under lockdown due to COVID19. WCL registered a production of 57.64 Million Tonnes (MT) against the target of 56 MT in FY 2019-20. The company registered a growth of 8.4 percent — the highest among all subsidiaries of CIL. Despite complete lockdown in the country, WCL continued to create new records in coal production everyday during the last week of March. The company registered its highest-ever single-day output of 5.02 lakh tonne on March 31.

20 new mines contributed bulk of coal production in FY20

WCL has recorded a steady rise in coal production on a year-on-year basis since 2014-15. The company had recorded production of 39.73 MT during 2013-14 and reached a figure of 57.64 MT in 2019-20 due to the opening of 20 new projects during the last five-six years. However, during this period, the company also lost production to the tune of 22 MT due to the closure of mines on exhaustion of reserves. If new mines had not been opened quickly, WCL would have gone down to a production level of 17 MT.

These 20 mines contributed 41.2 MT during 2019-20, which is more than 70 percent of the total production. Despite having one of the most adverse geo-mining conditions and the presence of black cotton soil, WCL has ensured a production growth to the level of 57.64 MT in 2019-20. WCL has been given a target of 62 MT for the year 2020-21. As CIL aims to reach 1 Billion Tonne (BT) coal production by 2023-24, WCL will be responsible for contributing more than 75 MT of coal by 2023-24 to meet the energy demands of the nation.

WCL plans to meet all coal requirements of gencos around

With an increase in production, WCL has been able to provide more coal to the consumers of Central, Western and Southern India. As on date, consumers linked to WCL, ie state gencos of Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat, Karnataka and NTPC have a stock of more than 25 days consumption at their end. Earlier, such consumers were taking coal from Coal India subsidiaries located in Eastern India, thereby incurring high cost on railway freight. WCL is looking to meet the full requirement of coal of these consumers in a span of one-two years so that the landed cost of coal could become cheaper and the savings thereof to the state gencos could be passed on to the power consumers by means of a reduced tariff.

WCL is the only subsidiary of CIL which has also diversified from coal mining activity. Sand from overburden and the use of mine water have been the flagship programme of the company in the last two-three years. After getting a license for the commercial processing of sand, WCL has started providing cheaper sand to the government entities for their day-to-day requirement. The company has set a target of nearly 10 Million CuM sand production by 2023-24 to make available cheaper sand in the market for common people. Similarly, mine water, "Coal Neer," is being provided in nearby villages through self-help groups.

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