State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL)(NSE: COALINDIA) recorded a 3.7% fall in coal production to 453.5mn tonnes between April and November of the current financial year, underscoring the challenges facing the country’s efforts to bolster domestic supply and cut import dependence, PTI reported.

The company, which contributes more than four-fifths of India’s total coal output, had produced 471mn tonnes in the same period last year.

Despite the overall decline, CIL posted a modest uptick in November, with output rising 1.2% year-on-year to 68mn tonnes compared with 67.2mn tonnes a year earlier.

In FY2024–25, CIL produced 781.1mn tonnes—about 7% short of its annual target of 838mn tonnes. The company has set an ambitious goal of producing 875mn tonnes and achieving 900mn tonnes of offtake in FY2025–26, and had earlier expressed confidence in meeting the 875mn-tonne mark in the current fiscal.

However, the trajectory through early autumn highlighted persistent pressure on output. CIL missed its monthly production targets in both September and October, with October production dropping 9.8% to 56.4mn tonnes and September output slipping to 48.97mn tonnes.

The latest figures reinforce the scale of the task ahead as the government pushes for higher domestic coal availability to support power demand and reduce costly imports.