Coal India Capex records 7.6% YoY growth to reach ₹10,492 crore in Apr-Nov FY24

Coal India Limited's (CIL) capital expenditure increased by ₹741 crores in the eight months ending November FY 2024 to ₹10,492 crores, which is 7.6% higher than ₹9,751 crores in the corresponding period last year. A senior executive of the company has said that it is striving to achieve around 80% of the current financial year's total targeted Capex of ₹16,500 crores by the third quarter ending in December 2023.

CIL's intensified focus on strengthening coal evacuation infrastructure in its mining areas saw the capex under three heads go up to ₹3,247 crores, which represented 31% of the entire capex till November 2023. A capex of ₹1,842 crores was deployed in setting up of railway sidings and corridors; ₹1,292 crores were spent in construction of coal handling plants (CHPs) and silos for mechanized transportation of coal including weighbridges and ₹113 crores were spent in establishing roads.

The capital expenditure on acquisition of land and related rehabilitation amounting to ₹2,486 crores accounted for almost a quarter of the total capex during the period of April to November FY 2024. The procurement of heavy earth moving machinery (HEMM) witnessed a spend of ₹1,954 crores, while diversification and joint ventures like Solar and Hindustan Urvarak Rasayan Limited and Talcher Fertilizers Limited saw a spend of ₹1,040 crores. The remaining capex heads were mine development, exploration, prospecting, ERP and other residuals.

The senior executive of the company described land and HEMM as the major Capex heads that catalyze production growth, pointing out that investments are being increased to prioritize the existence of a robust coal evacuation infrastructure to transport increased volumes of coal in future. As in the previous financial year, in FY 2024 the bulk of CIL's capex is focused on the three transport infra projects. Together these heads add up to ₹6,441 crores, out of the fiscal's targeted capex of ₹16,500 crores.

CIL's capital expenditure which used to hover between ₹6,000 and 7,000 crores took off sharply in FY 2022 to ₹13,284 crores, doubling over FY 2021 levels. During three successive financial years till FY 2023, CIL's capex exceeded its budgeted target.