Coal India subsidiaries — Central Coalfields Limited and Bharat Coking Coal Limited — headquartered in Jharkhand have improved their performance during the fiscal 2021-22 that ended March 31.

“CCL recorded its highest-ever coal production as well as dispatch during the just-ended financial year (2021-22),” CMD P.M. Prasad told reporters in Ranchi on Friday, adding the company produced 68.85 million tonnes (MT) of coal and recorded a 10 per cent growth over last year’s production while it dispatched 71.68 MT of coal, registering an average 4 per cent growth in rake loading.

“These achievements are more important, considering the post-Covid challenges and growing demand for coal faced by the company,” Prasad said.

The capital expenditure of CCL was Rs 2,000 crore during 2021-22, witnessing a growth of 15 per cent over last year’s, the CMD said, adding the company also paid Rs 899.10 crore towards compensation for land while it carried out a plantation drive on 133 hectares against a target of 110 hectares.

BCCL CMD Samiran Dutta said in Dhanbad that theirs was “the only Coal India subsidiary that had achieved both coal production and offtake targets”.

“BCCL produced 30.5 MT of coal against a target of 30.0 MT, registering 24 per cent growth over the last fiscal’s production figure of 24.7 MT,” Dutta told the media at his office in Dhanbad on Friday.

The company’s offtake figure for 2021-22 was 32.3 MT against a target of 32.0 MT, witnessing a growth of 39 per cent over last year’s figure of 23.2 MT, he added.

Even washed coal yield recorded a growth of 21 per cent from 28.3 MT in 2020-21 to 34.2 MT in 2021-22, he said, adding that an additional washery of 5 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) capacity inaugurated last week would help increase the yield further.

“BCCL achieved a lifetime record when its net sales realisation was about Rs 15,900 crore during 2021-22 that was 98 per cent higher than previous fiscal’s realisation of Rs 8,006 crore,” CMD Dutta further informed, adding the company had also reduced outstanding

dues by Rs 2,200 crore from Rs 3,500 crore on March 31, 2021, to Rs 1,300 crore on Thursday.

“With the company repaying loans of Rs 2,100 crore during the fiscal just ended, there is no borrowing in our balance sheet at present,” he further informed.

BCCL, for the first time, also achieved the capital expenditure target of Rs 850 crore as its actual capex was Rs 857 crore during 2021-22, Dutta further informed, adding the company could also reduce production cost from Rs 3,092 per tonne in 2020-21 to Rs 2,981 per tonne in 2021-22 despite steep rise in cost of diesel and explosives.