Coal India sets Rs. 17,000-cr capex target this fiscal

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has set a capital expenditure (capex) target of Rs 17,000 crore for the 2021-22 fiscal, which is around Rs 4,000 crore more than its spending last year, an official said on Sunday.

The miner is expecting an improvement in cash flow with rising demand for coal and higher realisation from e-auction sales, he said. "The total capex for this year is Rs 17,000 crore. This investment includes infusing of Rs 3,000 crore in Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd (HURL) and Talcher Fertilisers Ltd and spending of Rs 1,000-1,500 crore for railway line construction through a joint venture company," the CIL official told PTI.

The state-owned miner had revised its capital expenditure budget to Rs 13,115 crore for the 2020-21 fiscal from its initial estimate of Rs 10,000 crore.

In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre had directed PSUs to ramp up their capital expenditure to spur growth in the economy. Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd, comprising CIL, NTPC Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) and Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (HFCL), was incorporated in 2016 as a joint venture entity.

HURL is involved in setting up of natural-gas based 1.27 MTPA urea plant on the premises of closed fertiliser units of FCIL at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Sindri in Jharkhand and that of HFCL at Barauni in Bihar.