Coal India signs MoU with mines ministry division; shares rally 1.7%

Coal India on Tuesday, March 18, said it has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Ministry of Mines division at Hyderabad.

The MoU was signed between Coal India (CIL) and the Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre (NFTDC)—an autonomous, self-financing R&D institution under the Ministry of Mines in Hyderabad.

“Under this collaboration, CIL and NFTDC will jointly work on technology development and expertise enhancement in the field of critical minerals,” the PSU firm said in an exchange filing on Tuesday.

The scrip has gained over 3% in the last five trading sessions, while for a six-month period, from September 18, 2024, the stock has declined 19.50%.

Coal India shares had touched their 52-week low of ₹349.25 per share last month on February 17.

State-owned Coal India had recorded a marginal 0.9% decline in coal production in February compared to the year-ago period. Its coal production stood at 74.1 million tonnes (MT) in February this fiscal year, down from 74.8 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year.

The company's production in the April-February period was 695.3 MT over 685.1 MT in the year-ago period, CIL had said in an exchange filing on March 1.

Coal India accounts for over 80% of domestic coal output.

The cumulative coal production during the April-February period was at 928.95 MT, registering an increase of 5.73% over the 878.55 MT of fossil fuel produced in the year-ago period.

Coal India had reported a 17.4% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit at ₹8,491.22 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, on the back of lower sales.

In the corresponding period last year, it had posted a net profit of ₹10,291.71 crore.

The company’s revenue from operations stood at ₹35,779.74 crore in Q3 FY25, slumping 1.04% from ₹36,153.97 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) stood at ₹12,317.2 crore, declining 5.03% YoY from ₹12,970.7 crore in Q3 FY24. Its EBITDA margin contracted to 34.4% in the period under review, compared to 35.9% last year.