The Hindu Business Line : Central Coalfields targets 42 mt output this fiscal

Encouraged by its performance in the last few years, the Ranchi-based Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) has set an annual production target of about 67 million tonnes (mt) of coal in the terminal year of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12) as against its actual production of about 40.5 mt in the year ended March 2006.

The company has planned to achieve a production target of about 42 mt in the year 2006-07.

Capital expenditure outlay of Rs 3,276 crore is envisaged for the Eleventh Plan, of which about Rs 465 crore will be spent during the current fiscal.

Highlighting the company's achievements, the Chairman of CCL, Mr R.P. Ritolia, told Business Line over the telephone that in the terminal year of the Eleventh Plan, the production from new projects was expected to be about 35 mt.

The projects included Karo Opencast Project (OCP), Karma OCP, North Urimari, Magadh OCP and Amrapali OCP.

Mr Ritolia said the company has achieved highest-ever production in 2005-06.

It also achieved a growth of 152 per cent in profit from about Rs 438 crore in 2004-05 to about Rs 1,099 crore in 2005-06.

This has led to increase in the company's net worth from about Rs 896 crore to about Rs 1,293 crore, which is more than the paid-up capital of the company.

The company's expenditure on community development programme went up nearly three-and-half times in 2005-06 over the previous year's expenditure.

It is pointed out that the pace of growth achieved by CCL in 2005-06 remained uninterrupted in the areas of production, productivity, dispatch, offtake, capacity utilisation.

The company has earned a profit of about Rs 74 crore in April against the budgeted profit of about Rs 45 crore and a profit of about Rs 70 crore during the same month last year.