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Coal India today reported a Rs 2,626-crore net profit during the third quarter (first quarter since its IPO in October), up nearly 90 per cent from Rs 1,382 crore (unaudited) in October-December 2009. It also declared 35 per cent interim dividend. For first nine months, the PAT stood at Rs 6,646 crore.
According to Mr A K Sinha, Director, Finance, e-auction was a major contributor to higher profits. During the fiscal, the company sold 12 per cent of its production on e-mode at 81 per cent (56 per cent) higher price than notified prices.
The company is expecting the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to consider nearly a dozen of its proposals for environmental clearances during the next review meeting (of the MoEF) on February 21.
“There had been two meetings between the Union Coal and Environment Ministries in this regard. We are assuming that a lot of projects will be taken up for discussion by the MoEF during its next meeting on February 21,” the CIL Chairman, Mr Partha S. Bhattacharyya, said in a media conference here on Monday.
The company, however, maintained that even if granted clearance, the projects will take time to be implemented. “CIL's production in 2011-12 will not cross 447 million tonnes. The production of the current fiscal will also fall marginally short of even the revised target of 440 mt,” he said. This is the lowest ever production growth recorded by the company in nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, the Coal Ministry is unclear about the withdrawal of the embargo by the Environment Ministry on capacity expansion at CIL's nine major coalfields, after March 31. The embargo was imposed under the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index programme.
“There is no such commitment by the Environment Ministry to lift the embargo,” said Mr Alok Petri, Additional Secretary to Coal Ministry and a director of CIL. “They have sent teams to seven coalfields to assess the situation. Based on the mitigation plans, the MoEF will decide on the future of such projects,” he added.
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