India’s state-run miner Coal India will continue to increase production to meet growing demand and help boost inventories, according to a key government official overseeing the fuel.
The producer on Monday had flagged it could miss an output target for the year through March, and trimmed projected volumes for the next fiscal year. Shares fell on the news and with a decline in premiums for open-market sales.
“There are no guidelines to the company to cut production,” Federal Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena said in an interview late on Tuesday. “There may be limitations here and there in some mines related to land or clearances.”
Coal demand for India’s power sector is forecast to rise 6.5% in the next financial year to 874-million tons, Meena said, which will prompt miners to produce more.
Stockpiles at plants were 39-million tons on February 19, enough to last an average 15 days. The plan is to increase inventories to as much as 43-million tons by the end of March, he said.