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Coal India will focus on improving realisations, productivity and cost control to strengthen earnings after its profitability and margins declined in the last financial year, Chairman B Sairam said on Monday.
In his speech at Coal India's 52nd Annual General Meeting, Sairam said the company would focus on improving the quality and sustainability of its earnings. "Looking ahead, our focus will be on improving the quality and sustainability of earnings. We will continue to work towards improving realisation, enhancing productivity, containing controllable costs and improving asset utilisation," he said. Realisation refers to the average price the company earns from the coal it sells. Lower average realisation was one of the factors that weighed on Coal India's profitability during FY26. Coal India's consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,68,400 crore in FY26, compared with Rs 1,69,177 crore in the previous year. EBITDA declined to Rs 53,276 crore from Rs 57,139 crore, while profit after tax fell to Rs 31,071 crore from Rs 35,450 crore. Its EBITDA margin declined to 32 per cent from 34 per cent, while net profit margin fell to 18 per cent from 21 per cent. "While revenue remained broadly stable, profitability moderated during the year. This was primarily on account of lower average realisation, higher depreciation arising from continued capital investment, and increased contractual and statutory expenses," Sairam said. The company saw some improvement in the first quarter of the current financial year. Revenue from operations rose 8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 46,255 crore in the quarter ended June 2026 on higher average selling prices, while profit after tax improved marginally to Rs 8,850 crore. Coal offtake increased 4 per cent during the quarter and rose 18 per cent year-on-year in July. Coal allocated through e-auctions between April and July fetched an average premium of 43 per cent over notified prices. Sairam said Coal India also expects its investments in mining and new businesses to support earnings as projects gradually become operational. "As our large portfolio of mining and diversification projects progressively becomes operational, our objective will be to translate these investments into higher productivity, stronger cash generation and sustainable earnings growth," he said. Outlining the company's future plans, Sairam reiterated Coal India's target of producing around one billion tonnes of coal by FY2030 and 70 million tonnes from underground mines. He also reiterated the target of reaching 9.5 GW of renewable energy capacity by FY2030, while expanding coal evacuation infrastructure and its coal gasification business. Coal India is the world's largest coal-producing company and accounts for close to three-fourths of India's domestic coal production. Its core operations are being supplemented by investments in renewable energy, coal gasification and critical minerals as the company diversifies beyond coal mining. (ANI)
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