Coal India contractors handle 70% of coal, 89% of overburden

Coal India reported that contractual operations produced 223.60 million tonnes (MT), or 70%, of its 321.00 MT coal output in H1 2026–27. Contractors also removed 759.37 million cubic metres (M.CuM) of overburden, equal to 89% of the 857.61 M.CuM total, placing contractual activity at the centre of both measures.

What share of CIL coal production was contractual in H1 2026–27?

CIL produced 223.60 MT through contractual operations in H1 2026–27, compared with 97.40 MT through departmental operations. Contractual production therefore accounted for 70% of the 321.00 MT total, while departmental production made up the remaining 30%. The presentation identifies these as production-composition categories and does not provide a cost breakdown by operating mode.

CIL's total coal output was 27.49 MT below its H1 2026–27 target of 348.49 MT and 8.14 MT below the 329.14 MT reported in H1 2025–26. The 70% contractual share was therefore recorded during a half year in which group production declined 2% year on year, rather than alongside an increase in total H1 output.

The second quarter showed a different production direction. CIL produced 151.37 MT in Q2 2026–27, up 4% from 145.82 MT in Q2 2025–26, with contractual production of 105.97 MT, also equal to 70% of output. Departmental production was 45.40 MT in the quarter, preserving the same 30:70 split disclosed for the first half.

Which CIL subsidiaries relied most on contractual coal production?

MCL recorded the largest contractual coal volume among the listed subsidiaries at 73.36 MT in H1 2026–27, followed by SECL at 68.27 MT and CCL at 30.53 MT. MCL's departmental output was 14.18 MT, SECL's was 8.61 MT and CCL's was 4.93 MT, meaning contractual production exceeded departmental production at each of these units.

NCL was the exception in the production-composition data: it reported 57.99 MT of departmental coal production and no contractual volume. NCL nevertheless had the fourth-largest production figure in the group, but its 57.99 MT actual output was 11.06 MT below its H1 target of 69.05 MT and 16% below its 69.39 MT in H1 2025–26.

At the smaller end of the disclosed mix, ECL produced 18.89 MT contractually and 3.38 MT departmentally, while BCCL reported 11.56 MT and 2.22 MT, respectively. WCL reported 20.94 MT through contractual operations and 6.09 MT departmentally. These figures show that the 70% group contractual share reflected several subsidiaries, not only MCL and SECL.

Production performance varied across those operating units. CCL's 35.47 MT was 20% higher than its H1 2025–26 output of 29.53 MT, while SECL's 76.88 MT was 6% higher than 72.67 MT. MCL produced 87.54 MT, down 9% from 96.53 MT, showing that the subsidiaries with the biggest contractual volumes did not all report the same year-on-year output movement.

What share of CIL overburden removal was contractual?

CIL carried out 759.37 M.CuM of contractual overburden removal in H1 2026–27, or 89% of its 857.61 M.CuM total. Departmental overburden removal was 98.24 M.CuM, or 11%. Overburden removal is separate from coal production, but its disclosed contractual share was 19 percentage points higher than the 70% contractual share of coal output.

WCL had the largest contractual overburden-removal figure at 160.87 M.CuM, ahead of NCL at 149.59 M.CuM and SECL at 132.93 M.CuM. WCL's departmental removal was 7.66 M.CuM, while NCL reported 41.78 M.CuM and SECL 20.90 M.CuM. This distribution differs from coal production, where MCL and SECL had the two largest contractual volumes.

ECL reported 86.26 M.CuM of contractual overburden removal versus 7.54 M.CuM departmentally, and BCCL reported 59.99 M.CuM versus 4.88 M.CuM. CCL recorded 59.24 M.CuM contractually and 10.70 M.CuM departmentally, while MCL reported 110.21 M.CuM and 4.78 M.CuM, respectively. Each disclosed subsidiary therefore had more contractual than departmental overburden removal.

How did CIL's H1 physical performance change year on year?

CIL's H1 2026–27 coal production fell 2% to 321.00 MT from 329.14 MT, while coal offtake rose 8% to 384.20 MT from 357.05 MT. Overburden removal edged up 0.2% to 857.61 M.CuM from 855.69 M.CuM. Higher offtake and virtually unchanged overburden removal therefore occurred despite lower first-half coal production.

The gap between production and offtake coincided with a reduction in raw-coal inventory. Closing stock was 66.58 MT on 30 September 2026, down 63.70 MT, or 49%, from 130.28 MT on 1 April 2026. It was also 40.58 MT, or 38%, lower than the 107.16 MT closing stock reported on 30 September 2025.

Performance against H1 targets was below plan across the three operating measures. Coal output of 321.00 MT was below the 348.49 MT target, overburden removal of 857.61 M.CuM was below the 903.47 M.CuM target, and offtake of 384.20 MT was below the 407.52 MT target. MCL had the largest offtake at 111.29 MT, while rail plus merry-go-round systems accounted for 257 MT of group offtake, compared with 123 MT by road and 4 MT through other modes.

Conclusion

CIL's H1 2026–27 data show that contractors accounted for most reported coal production and an even larger share of overburden removal: 70% of 321.00 MT of coal and 89% of 857.61 M.CuM of overburden. The operating mix extended across several subsidiaries, although NCL produced its 57.99 MT entirely through departmental operations and was the exception in the coal-production composition data.

The next disclosure will show whether the 70% coal and 89% overburden contractual shares change as CIL addresses its H1 gaps against targets of 348.49 MT of coal output and 903.47 M.CuM of overburden removal. The presentation does not state a future target for either contractual share, leaving the longer-term operating mix unresolved beyond H1 2026–27.