Index of coal industry achieved growth of 11% in Nov 2023: Govt

The Index of Coal Industry has achieved a growth of 10.9 per cent (provisional) among eight core industries,  during November 2023, as per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industries on Monday showed. These eight core industries include cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilizers, natural gas, refinery products, and steel.

The growth in the Index of Coal Industry is mainly due to a substantial surge in coal production during November 2023, reaching 84.52 Million Tonne (MT), surpassing  76.16 MT of the corresponding month of the previous year, representing a remarkable increase of 10.97 per cent.

“Coal Sector achieved 185.7 points in November compared to 167.5 points at, the same time last year. The cumulative index of the coal sector during April – November 2023-24 has increased by 12.8 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year,” a government release stated.

The latest data indicates that the Combined Index of eight Core Industries has shown an increase of  7.8 per cent (Provisional) in November 2023, compared to the same period of the previous year.

According to the release, the Ministry of Coal has played a pivotal role in driving this growth through various strategic initiatives. These include augmenting domestic production through an auction-based regime for commercial coal mining, engaging Mine Developer cum Operators (MDOs) to ramp up domestic coal output, and reopening discontinued mines on a revenue-sharing model to boost coal production.