The Coal Ministry announced on Thursday its anticipation to dispatch over 1 billion tonnes (bt) of coal within the ongoing financial year, with approximately half of this quantity already dispatched by October 17 this year.

The Ministry highlighted that traditionally, the rate of coal production and dispatch tends to accelerate in the latter half of the year, surpassing the first half. Consequently, they anticipate exceeding the one-billion-tonne mark for coal dispatch by the end of this year.

For the fiscal year 2024, the Ministry has set a target to produce and dispatch 1,012 million tonnes (mt) of coal to various consumers, encompassing power plants and non-regulated sector industries such as steel and sponge iron.

Notably, achieving a significant milestone, the Ministry has successfully dispatched 500 mt of coal as of October 17, 2023. Attaining this milestone within the initial 200 days of the fiscal year, despite the challenges posed by the monsoon season, is regarded as an exceptional accomplishment.

Comparatively, during the previous fiscal year (FY23), the milestone of dispatching 500 mt of coal was reached on November 9, 2022. Therefore, achieving the 500-mt dispatch mark this year has been accomplished 23 days ahead of the previous year's schedule.

Breaking down the dispatched coal, 416.57 mt is allocated for the power sector, while 84.77 mt is designated for non-regulated sector (NRS) industries. Notably, there has been a year-on-year growth of 7.27% in coal transportation to the power sector and a 38.02% growth to NRS industries. Last year, as of March 31, 2023, a total of 893.19 mt was dispatched.

The historic achievement of dispatching this substantial quantity of coal has been credited to the collective efforts of Coal India, Singareni Collieries Company, and captive/commercial mines.