India's coal production fell 9.9% from a year ago to 234.14 million tonnes during April-August, the first five months in the fiscal year of 2020-21, showed the preliminary data from the Ministry of Coal.
The decline narrowed from 12.7% year-on-year fall logged in the first four months, data showed.
State-run Coal India Limited (CIL) churned out 195.54 million tonnes of coal, dipping 7% year on year and accounting for 83.8% of the country's total.
The second largest state-owned coal miner Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) produced 14.79 million tonnes, a sharp decline of 47.3% year on year.
Captive mines' production decreased 3.8% to 21.11 million tonnes, while output from other mines dropped 8.2% to 2.71 million tonnes during the same period.
During April-August, India sold 247.50 million tonnes of coal, falling 14.8% from the same period last year.
Sales by CIL dropped 13.4% year on year to 208.37 million tonnes, and that by SCCL tumbled 45.8% to 14.18 million tonnes, data showed.
Captive mines sold 22.25 million tonnes, 6.3% higher year on year, while other mines sold 2.70 million tonnes, down 8.6%.
To combat tepid coal demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's top coal miner revised down its production guidance from 710 million tonnes to 660 million tonnes for the current fiscal year. The new target was on par with the level in the last fiscal year.
India's domestic coal consumption by downstream users like power utilities and cement producers also fell due to the same reason, leading to a slump of coal imports last month.
The country's coal imports fell 34.9% year on year to 12.46 million tonnes in August, and the accumulative imports in the first five months of the fiscal year were also down 32.51% to 73.08 million tonnes, showed from the preliminary data from India's mjunction.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Harry Huo)
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