India's largest mining company, Coal India Ltd., reported a 12.6 percent growth in overall production for the month of September, an exchange filing said.

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Production in September stood at 51.4 million tonnes (MT), compared to 45.7 million tonnes in September last year.

With this, the overall production of Coal India in the first half of financial year 2024 (April-September) is at 332.9 MT, a growth of 11.3 percent compared to the 299 MT during the same period last year.

The figure for the first half of financial year 2024 is 42.67 percent of Coal India's full year production target of 780 MT.

For the first half of the year, all but two of Coal India's subsidiaries - Mahanadi Coalfields and Northern Coalfields reported a double-digit growth in production ranging from 14 percent to 23 percent.

Production generally is slow in the first half of the financial year due to the monsoon months. Even in financial year 2023, Coal India's production stood at 42 percent of the annual target in the first half of the year, before meeting its 700 MT production target a day before the year-end.

Coal India's offtake in September also grew by 12.6 percent form last year to 55.1 MT. Overall offtake in the first half of financial year 2024 stood at 360.7 MT, a growth of 8.8 percent from last year.

In an exclusive interaction with CNBC-TV18 recently, Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena said that while coal availability is not a concern, logistical issues are leading to delayed supply to some consumers. He explained that the transportation of coal from production areas to various parts of the country can be challenging, especially for consumers situated in remote locations. These logistic constraints have led to delays in coal delivery for certain consumers, he stated.

He emphasised that both Coal India and private sector players have been diligently following their production plans.

Shares of Coal India ended the month of September as the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index with gains of over 20 percent. The stock ended 1.7 percent higher at a 52-week high on Friday as well.

Also read this piece by Nigel D'Souza as to why Coal India's shares are making a comeback.