Coal India Limited H1 offtake rises 8% as inventory nearly halves

Coal India Limited reported H1 2026-27 coal offtake of 384.20 million tonnes (MT), 8% above a year earlier, despite production falling 2% to 321.00 MT. Deliveries exceeded production as raw-coal inventory fell by 63.70 MT, or 49%, to 66.58 MT on 30 September 2026.

What happened to Coal India’s H1 production and offtake?

Coal India produced 321.00 MT in H1 2026-27, down from 329.14 MT in H1 2025-26, while offtake increased to 384.20 MT from 357.05 MT. Offtake exceeded fresh production by 63.20 MT during the six-month period, alongside the reported inventory reduction.

Coal India was below both of its H1 volume targets. Production was 27.49 MT below the 348.49 MT target, while offtake was 23.32 MT below the 407.52 MT target. The presentation records 8% year-on-year growth in offtake, but actual deliveries did not reach the planned H1 level.

Overburden removal, or OB removal, was 857.61 million cubic metres in H1 2026-27, compared with 855.69 million cubic metres a year earlier. The 0.2% increase left actual removal 45.86 million cubic metres below the 903.47 million-cubic-metre target.

Which Coal India subsidiaries drove the production result?

Coal India’s production decline was led by NCL, MCL and BCCL, whose output fell by 11.40 MT, 8.99 MT and 1.97 MT respectively from H1 2025-26. NCL produced 57.99 MT against 69.39 MT a year earlier, MCL produced 87.54 MT against 96.53 MT, and BCCL produced 13.78 MT against 15.75 MT.

Several subsidiaries increased output, partly offsetting those declines. CCL produced 35.47 MT, up 20% from 29.53 MT, while ECL rose 10% to 22.27 MT, WCL increased 9% to 27.03 MT, and SECL rose 6% to 76.88 MT. NEC’s production declined from 0.11 MT to 0.03 MT.

Production was mainly contractual. Contractual production totalled 223.60 MT, or 70% of Coal India’s 321.00 MT H1 output, while departmental production was 97.40 MT, or 30%. MCL recorded 73.36 MT of contractual production and SECL recorded 68.27 MT, while NCL’s 57.99 MT was entirely departmental.

The target shortfall was not confined to the group level. NCL was 11.06 MT below its 69.05 MT H1 production target, MCL was 3.01 MT below its 90.55 MT target, and BCCL was 3.44 MT below its 17.22 MT target. CCL was 3.48 MT below target despite its 20% year-on-year output increase.

How did Coal India increase offtake while output declined?

Coal India increased offtake while output declined by reducing raw-coal inventory from 130.28 MT on 1 April 2026 to 66.58 MT on 30 September 2026. The 63.70 MT reduction represented 49% of opening inventory and closely matched the 63.20 MT gap between H1 offtake and production.

The 30 September 2026 inventory was also 40.58 MT, or 38%, below the 107.16 MT held on 30 September 2025. It was down 34.77 MT from 101.35 MT on 30 June 2026, showing that the stock reduction continued in the second quarter.

MCL retained the largest raw-coal stock at 20.08 MT, representing 30% of Coal India’s 66.58 MT closing inventory. CCL and SECL each held 18% of the total, at 11.96 MT and 11.86 MT respectively, while ECL and BCCL each accounted for 10%, at 6.95 MT and 6.34 MT.

Rail plus merry-go-round systems accounted for 257 MT of the 384.20 MT H1 offtake, while road accounted for 123 MT and other modes for 4 MT. The reported transport-mode figures total 384 MT, rounded from total H1 offtake of 384.20 MT.

Did Coal India’s second quarter improve the H1 trend?

Coal India’s Q2 2026-27 production rose 4% to 151.37 MT from 145.82 MT in Q2 2025-26, while Q2 offtake increased 12% to 186.34 MT from 166.10 MT. The quarterly production increase contrasts with the 2% decline for H1 as a whole.

Using the reported H1 and Q2 figures, first-quarter production was 169.63 MT in 2026-27, compared with 183.32 MT in the prior-year quarter. First-quarter offtake was 197.86 MT, compared with 190.95 MT a year earlier. Offtake was higher in the first quarter, while the Q2 production increase reduced the scale of the H1 output decline.

Q2 production growth included a 40% increase at WCL to 10.41 MT and a 33% increase at CCL to 17.16 MT. NCL remained below the prior-year quarter at 27.94 MT versus 33.50 MT, while MCL recorded 45.01 MT compared with 44.95 MT.

Coal India’s Q2 offtake was 0.21 MT below the quarterly target of 186.55 MT, at 186.34 MT. WCL’s Q2 offtake rose 55% to 17.10 MT and CCL’s increased 41% to 20.65 MT, while NCL’s fell 14% to 28.74 MT.

Conclusion

Coal India’s reported 8% H1 offtake growth came despite lower production and below-target output, with raw-coal inventory declining by 63.70 MT to 66.58 MT. Higher deliveries at CCL, WCL, SECL, MCL and ECL lifted group offtake, while production declines at NCL, MCL and BCCL weighed on group output.

The unresolved operating question is whether subsequent production can close the disclosed H1 shortfall of 27.49 MT against target while inventories remain below the 130.28 MT opening level. Coal India also disclosed the commissioning of MCL’s 10 MTPA Lakhanpur Silo on 30 August 2026 and the start of commercial operations at BCCL’s 2.0 MTPA Bhojudih Coal Washery on 26 May 2026.