New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS): Coal production grew by 16 per cent touching 698 million tonnes during April-January period of the current fiscal, against 601 million tonnes production recorded during the corresponding period of last year.

According to coal ministry sources, during the above mentioned period, Coal India Limited's (CIL) production rose by 15.23 per cent to 550.93 million tonnes against 478.12 million tonnes recorded during the corresponding period of last year.

The increase in domestic coal production has helped the country curb import to a large extent in the face of sharp increase in coal demand, arising due to continuous rise in power consumption.

The coal ministry has fixed the target of 1.31 billion tonnes for 2024-25, which it expects to go up to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2029-30.

The ministry has been actively engaging with various state governments and central government agencies for starting new coal mines and enhancing coal production in the currently operational mines.

As a result of this, production from captive and commercial coal mines increased to 93.22 million tonnes during April-January period of 22-23 from 71.31 million tonnes in the same period of 2021-22, showing a growth of more than 30 per cent.