State-run Coal India earlier this week approved an interim dividend of Rs 9 per share. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Pramod Agrawal, CMD of Coal India shared his view on buyback, fuel supply agreement (FSA), price increase, and dividend payout plan for the year.

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“We will try to maximise whatever money we have to give as dividend,” Agrawal said.

“Our payout ratio is more than 90 percent and we are likely to maintain that,” he added.

In terms of buyback, he said, “The tax structure for buyback is not conducive for Coal India. There is double taxation, whereas, in dividend there is no taxation at our end – the requirement is to pay tax from the receivable of the dividend. To my understanding of Coal India, going for buyback is not a very good option.”

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Agrawal said the FSA price increase has been delayed from October 2021. “I was planning to do it in September-October. I am discussing it with all the stakeholders, there is general agreement the prices should increase but how much and when is still to be decided,” he clarified.

However, he refrained from giving any numbers on this. Wage negotiation is at an early stage, he noted.

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“We were planning to finalise it quickly but because of the pandemic situation we could not hold the meeting. I don’t think it is going to be finalised very soon. It is unlikely to happen in this fiscal,” he said.

He is optimistic that the FSA price increase will be announced in the next quarter.

On dispatch targets for FY22 and FY23, he said, “This year, in FY22, I am looking at a dispatch of about 670 million tonne or maybe even more and in FY23, we will be targeting dispatch of somewhere near 710 million tonne.”

Last year Coal India’s e-auction sales volume were nearly 94 million tonne. “We had done about 64 million tonne till October end. I am quite hopeful that e-auction sales volume will be crossing 100 million tonne this year,” he mentioned.

For the full interview, watch the accompanying video.

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(Edited by : Bivekananda Biswas)