Coal India (CIL) consolidated net profit saw a 46 per cent increase at ₹6,715 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, as compared with ₹4,589 crore in the same period last year.
Net sales grew by nearly 23 per cent at ₹30,046 crore during the quarter under review as compared with ₹24,511 crore same period last year.
The company’s board has recommended a final dividend of ₹3 per share for the financial year 2021-22 subject to approval of members at the ensuing annual general meeting.
The company said that coal production during the January-March 2022 quarter grew by around three per cent at 209 million tonne (mt), as against 203.42 mt same period last year.
Price gap
Talking about the need to step up production, Pramod Agarwal, Chairman CIL told BusinessLine that the huge price differential between imported coal and domestic coal was a deterrent for players to bring in coal from international markets, so it was important to step up production.
“There is a huge gap in prices of international and domestic coal, and it needs to be seen how many consumers are willing to pay the price of imported coal. Also, if a country like India begins to import coal, international prices will go up further. So we have no choice but to step up production,” he said.
Coal India has set a target of achieving production of around 700 mt during the current fiscal, a growth of around 12 per cent over last year.
CIL’s offtake grew by over nine per cent at 180.25 mt (164.89 mt) during the quarter under review. It sold close to 150.11 mt through FSA route and the average realisation was ₹1,474. 37 a tonne, and it sold 27.65 mt through e-auction route at average realisation of ₹2,434.15 a tonne.
The company’s scrip closed at ₹180.60, down by 0.99 per cent on the BSE on Wednesday.