The government has set the target of producing 170 million tonnes of coal from captive and commercial coal blocks in the country during the current financial year.

In FY24, captive and commercial coal blocks produced 147.12 million tonnes (MT) of dry fuel, 26 percent higher than 116 MT produced in FY23.

According to an official, the additional secretary, of coal, M Nagaraju this week reviewed the coal production targets for FY25. Representatives of 74 coal mines were present in the review meeting.

"Coal block allottees are confident of achieving the production target of 170.0 MT in 2024-25," the official said.

The additional secretary also reviewed the plans for the anticipated operationalization of new mines during 2024-25.

Out of the total output of 147.2 MT in FY24, power sector captive mines produced around 121.3 MT, captive mines of the non-power sector produced 8.4 MT while commercial mines generated 17.5 MT of fuel.

The country's coal import rose to 244.27 MT in the April-February period of FY24 from 227.93 MT in the year-ago period, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce company junction