Coal India's capex grows 12% to Rs.14,834 cr in FY'22

New Delhi: State-owned CIL on Tuesday said its capital expenditure registered a growth of 12 per cent to Rs 14,834 crore in FY'22.

Coal India's capital expenditure was at Rs 13,284 crore in FY'21. Stating that the capex growth in FY'22 came on the back of a strong base, Coal India (CIL) in a statement said the entire capital expenditure was met through internal accruals. "CIL's FY'21 capex doubled in a year from that of Rs 6,270 crore of FY'20. This means, FY'22 capex growth came on the back of a strong base," the statement said. The capex boost of Coal India was to catalyse the output growth and align it with evacuation outlets. Most of the capital expenditure was spread on land, procurement of heavy earth moving machinery, setting up coal handling plant (CHP), silos and creation of rail infrastructure for coal transportation. Land and heavy earth moving machinery (HEMM) combined accounted for 40 per cent of the total capex at Rs 5,867 crore and capital expenditure under land was Rs 3,262 crore in 2021-22. Acquisition of land is important for CIL to augment its output from opencast (OC) mines.

Land procured for two projects Searmal and Talcher of Coal India arm, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) would help the PSU further widen its mining operations. The centralized procurement of HEMM for Coal India subsidiaries Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) and South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) amounted to Rs 2,605 crore. Replacing the old fleet with the modernized equipment to be deployed in OC mines especially in SECL and NCL is essential for output ramp up. The other important head of capex spend, at Rs 2,322 crore, was for setting up coal handling plants/silos with a major share taken up by NCL, SECL and MCL. Strengthening of evacuation infrastructure through rail sidings and corridors accounted for Rs 2,307 crore of total capex. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.