Though the Government managed to prevail upon Coal India ltd’s (CIl) unions to end their proposed five-day long nation-wide strike within two days, the Maharatna company witnessed almost 50 per cent fall in production due to the agitation and it may find it difficult to meet the production target of 507 million tonnes for the current fiscal.
Coal Minister Piyush Goyal on his part on Thursday put up a brave front and reiterated that CIl will be able to achieve the 1 billion tonnes production target by 2019 with the support of all the unions. However, industry sources claimed that it is going to be a tough ask, considering the fact that CIl has been struggling to meet its annual production targets since the past few fiscals. It missed the output target of 482 million tonnes fixed for FY14 and had produced only 462 million tonnes.
While coal workers all across the eight subsidiaries of CIl resumed normal work after the strike was called off late on Wednesday night, sources privy to the development confirmed to The Pioneer that due to the two-day loss in terms of production, it will take some ambitious “leapfrogging” to achieve the 507 million tonnes target. Though losses in financial terms during the two days of strike are likely to be evaluated by March 31, 2015, sources pointed out that volume-wise production fell by around 46 per cent owing to the agitation.
Production falling by almost 50 per cent may turn out to be a serious setback for CIl’s long term plans of improving its constantly falling annual output as sources with direct knowledge of the developments said that with several projects of the company still awaiting environmental clearances, the company will require some serious damage control in the coming months to put the demand-supply chain back on track. The strike had started on January 6 and by the end of the first day, losses faced by CIl and its subsidiaries amounted to around Rs300 crore. However, as of now the exact loss in terms of financials will be evaluated by the end of the current fiscal.
Meanwhile addressing media persons during an event, Goyal said that the Government’s ambitious plan of reforming the coal sector which includes CIl’s disinvestment and opening up the segment for private entities, will go ahead as per schedule. “There is absolutely no change in any of our plans,” he said. The minister added that all the five CIl unions have assured him that the loss in production of two days due to the agitation will be made up.
The Government also plans to set up a committee which will be headed by a Joint Secretary from the Coal Ministry and consist of members from CIl as well as the unions. It will look into the concerns raised by the unions regarding CIl’s disinvestment and its restructuring. The fear among the workers regarding allowing of private entities in the sector, will also be allayed by the panel and all suggestions and recommendations after discussions with the concerned stakeholders, will be forwarded to the Government.
Goyal clarified that he has made a firm commitment that CIl would not be privatised.
“There is no (move) to denationalise Coal India. It continues to remain under the management and the control of the government,” he said. The minister further said: “If they (Unions) have any concerns in the future, we have constituted a Committee under the (Chairmanship of) Joint Secretary in the (Coal Ministry) so that there are no misapprehension.” He added that the action plan on doubling CIl’s production target is in place, and the transformation process has been initiated.
The minister further said the prior allotees have paid a penalty of Rs6,100 crore to become eligible for participation in the e-auctions of blocks.Goyal also said that Rs 1 lakh crore worth of orders are being placed by NTPC, CIl, Energy Efficiency Services limited and PGCIl to boost manufacturing and kick start the economy.Coal workers called off their nationwide strike after two days last night, as the government assured trade unions that the CIl will not be privatised and the employees’ interest will be protected.