Coal price hike remains difficult, Coal India tells investors

Coal India on Thursday informed investors that increasing coal prices remains difficult in the current context when the economy is grappling with high inflation.

The miner was seeking to raise prices to mitigate high input costs on account of high diesel and explosives prices, among others. Coal India has not raised prices in the last four years.

"All stakeholders are not coming on board," Coal India chairman Pramod Agrawal told analysts, responding to questions on coal price.

Coal India was rather focussing on ramping up production and cost control to overcome the cost pressure.

The miner posted its best-ever profit for the April-June quarter, backed by high demand for coal.

It posted a 179 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 8,832.86 crore for the first quarter.

Coal India was hopeful of reaching close to the H1 production target of 306 million tonne by September. For FY23, the annual production target is 700 million tonne.

Coal India expects to achieve production levels of above 900 million tonne by 2024-25.

Shares of Coal India closed 1.0 per cent down at Rs 236.5 apiece on the NSE.