State-owned CIL reported a 3.3 per cent rise in coal production to 60.2 million tonnes (MT) in December.
Coal India Ltd (CIL) had produced 58.3 MT of coal in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal, the PSU said in a BSE filing.
The company's coal output increased to 413.6 MT during the April-December period from 392.8 MT in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, it added.
Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.
The country's coal production is expected to record a ''sizeable leap'' in 2022 with increased output mainly from Coal India and captive mines, providing an adequate firewall against any possible dry fuel shortages like the one witnessed in the latter half of this year.
Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain had said the increase in coal output would be on account of more production from CIL, captive coal blocks auctioned between 2015-2020 and commercial mines put on sale last year.
In the last financial year, CIL dug out about 596 MT of coal, he had said, adding that in the ongoing fiscal, the output is likely to be upped to 640 MT.
(With inputs from PTI)
