WCL exceeds coal production target

Nagpur, Apr 5 (UNI) The public sector Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limted (CIL), has exceeded its production target for the financial year 2006-2007.

Speaking to reporters here yesterday, WCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) G S Chugh said that the company's total production for the year was 43.212 million tonnes, which was 1.212 million tonnes more than the target of 42 million tonnes.

This, incidentally, was also the highest production ever achieved by WCL in its history, and even more than it is supposed to produce in 2008-2009, Mr Chugh said.

The company's turnover for the year ended March 31, 2007, was expected to be Rupees 4,947 crore against the budgeted Rupees 4,736 crore, and the net profit was expected to be 'substantially higher' than the budgeted Rupees 620 crore, he said. Total sales during 2006- 2007 were approximately Rupees 5,136 crore, he said.

Mr Chugh said that WCL's production target for the current fiscal was 42.40 million tonnes.

WCL, which was granted 'Mini Ratna Category - I' status by the government recently, plans to invest a total of Rupees 3713.64 crore over the next five years in new projects to increase its level of production to 45 million tonnes per annum, Mr Chugh said.

The capital outlay includes Rupees 904.28 crore for 23 ongoing new projects, which would add a production capacity of 14.92 million tonnes, and Rupees 2809.36 crore on 32 new projects that have been identified for development during the XI plan period (2007-2012), which would add 28.61 million tonnes to the production capacity, he added.

UNI