It is reported that state owned Coal India Ltd has increased its production target for the current fiscal by 7.7%.

The report quoted Mr P S Bhattacharyya during the annual general meeting of the Indian Coal Manufacturers Association as saying that “Last year, our production growth rate was 6.4%. This year we have set a target of 7.7%.”

He said so far CIL has been able to meet the country’s demand for the feedstock, which is primarily driven by the power sector.

Mr Bhattacharyya said the coal major could meet the demand as the country had not been able to add the required generation capacity during the 10th Plan period (2002-2007).

But in the 11th Plan period (2007-12), he said that demand would exceed supply for which the production target has been raised.

He confirmed that CIL is gearing up for another round of price hike soon to bridge the widening gap between domestic and global prices and to meet the fund requirement arising due to wage revision.

(Sourced from IANS)