CIL’s Q1 capex rises 65% to Rs 3,034 crore

Coal India ( CIL) has achieved capital expenditure of Rs 3,034 crore from April-June of the current fiscal, up 65% over the comparable quarter last year. The PSU-miner has been maintaining robust capex over the last many quarters.

“The capex increase came on the back of strong spending in acquiring land and strengthening transport infrastructure in our coalfields under first-mile connectivity projects. These two vital areas help CIL in expanding its mining operations for accelerated production and pairing it with seamless transportation of coal,” a senior CIL official said.

Land acquisition at Rs 608 crore accounted for nearly one-fifth of the first quarter’s total capex basket. This represents a close 2.3-fold increase on year. The expenditure was spread across all the subsidiaries of CIL, the official informed.

Capex under first-mile connectivity projects, on the construction of coal handling plants, silos including weighbridges totalled Rs 577 crore during the quarter under review. This has been a four-fold increase compared to Rs 141 crore spent in the first quarter of last fiscal.

Rail sidings and laying of rail corridors accounted for Rs 571 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal – clocking a 57% growth. On a like-to-like comparison, the expenditure under this head was Rs 363 crore. Both the evacuation logistics projects put together at Rs 1,148 crore accounted for more than one-third or 38% of the total capex of Rs 3,034 crore.

The other significant capex head was joint ventures, Hindustan Urvarak Rasayan (HURL) and Talcher Fertilizers, on whose account `518 crore was spent during the quarter under review. HURL’s Gorakhpur plant has already started production whereas Sindri and Barauni plants will become operational during the fiscal.

“CIL’s production tempo is keeping up a consistent double-digit growth in FY23 so far. All efforts were on to continue the trend. What assumes importance is to have a matching evacuation infrastructure that can handle transportation of the increased output,” the CIL official added.