NEW DELHI | Jan 26, 2016: Buoyed by the output growth of 9 per cent by CIL, the government has asked the world's largest coal miner to ensure that it meets the target of 550 million tonnes for the current fiscal.

Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production is eyeing an output of one billion tonnes by 2020.

"In a meeting held this month, Coal Ministry asked Coal India to ensure that it meets the output target for the current financial year," an official said.

The meeting was chaired by Coal Secretary Anil Swarup.

The official further said the government appreciated the Coal India (CIL) for an output of 373.45 million tonnes (MT) in the April-December period of fiscal 2016, registering an increase of 9 per cent over 342.39 MT produced in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Swarup had earlier said the state-run miner is set for a record production of 550 million tonnes this fiscal.

"Coal India is likely to hit a record production in the range of 540 MT to 550 MT in the current fiscal," Swarup had said earlier.

He had said the coal behemoth, which could hardly manage an increase of 31 MT of coal between 2010 and 2014, recorded an increase of about 32 MT in the last fiscal.

The official said that increased production has not only resulted in enhanced energy production but also made available coal stock for 24 days with power plants, from the earlier three to seven days.

Apart from increased production, increased offtake could also be possible with availability of higher number of rakes, which went to 204 per day in the current fiscal as against 182 in the last fiscal, Swarup had added.

(Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)