Coal India Ltd (CIL) has set a supply target of 900.24 million tonnes (MT) for 2025–26, marking an over 18 per cent rise from the previous year, as part of its strategy to meet rising electricity demand and reduce coal imports. According to its latest annual report, around 74 per cent of this supply is expected to go to the power sector, reinforcing CIL’s pivotal role in maintaining uninterrupted nationwide power supply.

With projected power sector demand at 668.1 MT in FY26, CIL aims to meet the entire requirement of both regulated and non-regulated consumers, substituting imported coal where feasible. This supply goal aligns with the government’s broader vision of ensuring 24×7 electricity to all households and supports CIL’s long-term production plan of reaching 1 billion tonnes by 2028–29.

To ensure sustainable growth, the company is focusing on environmentally responsible practices such as selective mining, coal beneficiation and blending, underground mining expansion, and diversification into clean coal technologies like coal gasification and coal-to-liquid (CTL) projects. It also plans to increase coking coal supplies for the steel sector and support new gasification ventures.

CIL has earmarked a capital investment of Rs 160 billion for FY26 to support volume growth. Additional funds are being allocated for railway infrastructure, thermal and solar power projects, coalbed methane extraction, and the revival of fertiliser units.

In FY25, India’s total power generation rose by 5 per cent to 1,826 billion units (BU), with coal-based generation accounting for 1,299 BU. Against a projected demand of 661 MT, CIL supplied 616.17 MT to the power sector, achieving a materialisation rate of about 93 per cent.

Supply to the non-regulated sector reached 145.3 MT, a growth of 8.1 per cent, while e-auction bookings climbed to 89.38 MT, despite the average e-auction premium easing to 48 per cent from 72 per cent the year before.

Chairman and Managing Director P M Prasad, addressing shareholders, emphasised that CIL is intensifying efforts to future-proof its operations through strategic diversification and asset monetisation. The company is actively pursuing projects in coal gasification, coalbed methane extraction, solar energy, and critical mineral exploration to align with India’s energy transition agenda and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

In a notable milestone, CIL monetised the Dugda Coal Washery in Bokaro, Jharkhand—valued at Rs 5.04 billion—under a build-own-operate model. This marks India’s first-ever coal washery monetisation under the government’s asset monetisation framework.