India persists with setting higher coal production targets despite offtake slowdown

Despite falling offtake and missed targets, India’s Coal Ministry is likely to persist with setting higher production targets for Coal India Limited (CIL) for 2017/18. Indications from key Ministry officials point towards a production target of 660-million tons a year during the next financial year. This is a 15% increase on what CIL is expected to produce at the close of the current financial year on March 31, 2017.