State-run miner Coal India on Tuesday said its capital expenditure grew 6.5 per cent year-on-year at ₹19,840 crore for the last financial year, which was the highest till date.

For the financial year 2022-23, the capex had stood at ₹18,619 crore. “CIL achieved 120 per cent target satisfaction over the year’s capex target of ₹16,500 crore. For the fourth fiscal on sequence, CIL’s capex breached the budgeted target,” Coal India said in a stock exchange filing.

With the company focusing on strengthening coal transportation and handling infrastructure in its mining areas, the capital expenditure under this head was highest among others at ₹6,070 crore, which was 30.6 per cent of the year’s capex spend.

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CIL said it is aiming to have adequate infrastructure in place to evacuate increased quantities of coal produced in future. This includes setting up first-mile connectivity projects with Coal Handling Plants and Silos; rail sidings, rail lines and roads. South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) and Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) accounted for 65.4 per cent of this head with ₹2,214 crore and ₹1,754 crore, respectively.

Showing a sharp upward swing on land acquisition and associated rehabilitation and resettlement, capital expenditure for land was ₹5,135 crore in FY24. Capital expenditure under this head was second highest during the last fiscal, posting a jump of 52.5 per cent over ₹3,367 crore in FY23.

CIL requires large tracts of land to enhance its production from opencast mines, which account for 96 per cent of the company’s total output.

Coal India’s three subsidiaries – Central Coalfields (CCL), SECL and MCL – lined up 77.3 per cent of the capex under land head. CCL led the list with ₹1,909 crore followed by SECL at ₹1,159 crore and MCL ₹904 crore. These three subsidiaries have sizeable production potential in future. Combined they are expected to contribute around 68 per cent to CIL’s one billion tonnes output goal.

Procurement of heavy earth moving machinery made up the third highest head with ₹3,078 crore during FY24.

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