The share price of Coal India increased by more than 4% intraday on January 3 after the state-owned coal company announced a 3.3% increase in coal production to 60.2 million tonnes (MT) in December 2021. Coal India Ltd (CIL) produced 58.3 MT of coal in the previous fiscal’s corresponding month.

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The company’s stock reached a high of Rs 152.70 on the National Stock Exchange, up from Rs 146.05 at the previous closing. The stock was trading at Rs 152.10, up Rs 6.05 or 4.14%, at 11:22 am.  The scrip was trading with 787,632 shares, compared to its five-day average of 384,245 shares, a 104.98% rise.

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Coal India’s output grew 5.3% to 413.6 MT from 392.8 MT in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, the firm said in an exchange filing Saturday. Coal India accounts for more than 80% of the country’s coal output.

Coal offtake grew by 15.7% in 2021 to 60.7 MT, up from 15.5 MT in December last year, according to the company’s report.

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From April to December 2021, the offtake increased by 17.6% to 481.8 MT from 409.8 MT in the same period last year.

Analysts predict that India’s coal production will expand significantly in 2022, owing to increased output from Coal India and captive mines, which may act as a buffer against any dry fuel shortages that occurred the previous year.

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According to the sources of ET, citing Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain, the rise in output will be due to increased production by Coal India Limited through captive coal blocks auctioned from 2015 to 2020 and commercial mines put up for sale last year.

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CIL extracted roughly 596 MT of coal in the previous financial year, according to Jain, who added that the amount might grow to 640 MT in the current year.