Coal not in short supply; on track to achieve FY18 target of 600 mt: Coal Secretary

Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar in an interview to CNBC-TV18 spoke on a whole host of issues ranging from wage revision to coal prices, production to supply of coal, auctions etc.

Talking about wages, he said the negotiations are revisions are underway. It is a complex process but expect a resolution by mid-October, he added.

When asked if Coal India would look at raising prices on account of wage hikes, he said as of now he would not like to hazard a guess but clarified that government has no say in pricing and that the board would decide on rates.

He said the company is on course to achieve FY18 target of 600 million tonne.

He also specified that coal is not in short supply but logistics is an issue, there needs to be better connectivity. On that front, they have been constant talks with the railways to improve logistics for coal supply, he said.

He said they have given railways and CIL an aspirational target of 250 rakes of coal supply and have asked them to supply at least 215-220 out of that for power sector.