Coal India is making its biggest tech overhaul in four decades to check rampant theft and shed its image as an inefficient behemoth, spurred by an impending opening up of the sector to private firms for the first time since the 1970s.

The state-run company’s monopoly had allowed it to delay the use of modern technology common in international mining, but it cannot afford to wait any longer as the government is set to soon announce a plan to allow private competitors like Adani Group to mine and sell coal.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been recording impressive production growth every month this fiscal year, compared with its dreary historical performance. But could lower demand from the power sector prove to be a party pooper?

The company’s production for December increased 10.8% year-on-year (y-o-y). Offtake (or sales volume) growth, however, remained stagnant at 9.7% y-o-y, missing the target of 12.7% given already high stocking at power plants and hence lower coal demand, Subhadip Mitra, analyst at JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd, wrote in a note to clients.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has mulled raising coal prices by an average 13-13.5% across all grades, though the price of the lowest-grade coal between 2,200 and 2,500 GCV (gross calorific value) may be raised by 40-43%, a CIL director told FE on the condition of a

“The proposal of the price rise has been tabled at the level of the functional directors, but before that, there is already an in-principle approval from the coal and power ministries regarding increasing prices,” the director said.

Government on Saturday said coal output by state-owned CIL crossed 9 per cent over last year’s production adding that there is “still a very long way to go” amid the PSU eyeing one billion tonnes production target.

“Coal production by Coal India crosses 9 per cent over last year’s record production. Well done. Keep it going. Still a very long way to go,” Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said in a tweet.

With quality determination of fossil fuels posing as a challenge to the government, the state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) has roped in additional third-party agencies to do the job.

"CEA (Central Electricity Authority) has recommended empanelment of additional third-party sampling agencies in pursuance to which... Agencies are being empanelled in addition to the existing third-party agencies," Coal India said in a letter.

New Delhi, Dec. 13 (PTI): Opposing an immediate stake sale in Coal India Ltd, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have told the finance ministry that further divestment in the coal miner should be put off as the current market valuation is low.

Foreign investors such as Fidelity, Wellington Management and BlackRock have also conveyed that they may look at selling their holding in Coal India since the share price can plummet further in case the divestment happens soon, sources said.

State-owned Coal India Ltd has estimated a capital investment of Rs 57,000 crore over the next five years to increase the production to 908.1 MT, as part of the road-map for one billion tonne coal production by 2020, Parliament was informed today.

"Coal India has assessed a tentative capital investment of Rs 57,000 crore for the next five years to ramp up its coal production to 908.1 MT (million tonnes) from the production level of 494.80 MT in 2014-15", Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Coal India's production jumped 8.8 per cent to 321.38 mt during April-November period of the current fiscal, while offtake soared by 9.8 per cent.

Coal India (CIL) produced 295.40 million tonnes (mt) during the same period last year, a company official said.

KOLKATA: Central trade union leaders may be contemplating a strike to protest against the Coal India stake divestment plan but getting workers to participate is turning out to be a tough sell because of the resulting salary cuts.

Pay docked for every day of a strike amounts to Rs 1,500 at junior levels to at least twice that in the higher ranks. Workers are reluctant to sacrifice this, at least on issues such as stake divestment that they see as going ahead anyway, even if there is a strike.

NEW DELHI: The government has approved empanelling independent agencies to check the quality of coal supplied by Coal India Ltd (CIL) to power firms, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said on Monday.

The coal ministry has also decided that power plants of public sector undertakings will get coal supply from CIL till their captive coal mines become operational.

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