Huge demand for coal in the market to handle the growing energy crisis in the country aside, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has struggled to reach the target of coal production in the first month of the new fiscal with about half a million tonnes of short production.
Against the target of mining 5.84 million tonnes in April, the company could achieve 5.32 million tonnes with the coal company authorities blaming it on shortage of explosives required for the coal mining. The company has ambitious plans to produce/mine at least 2.1 lakh tonnes of coal every day or about 6.3 million tonnes a month, including 1.7 lakh tonnes to power plants, but the average daily production in April was just about 1.77 lakh tonnes.
However, coal production in April was 9.61% higher compared to last April (4.86 million tonnes), when the economic activity in the country was yet to return to normalcy. “Some raw material for the explosives’ manufacturing was being sourced mainly from Ukraine till the break-out of war over two months back. The war has affected the supply-chain and created shortage of explosives for all mining activities in the country and not just coal mining,” a Singareni official said.
