New Delhi, Oct 13 : India's coal production in the first half this fiscal was 184.4 million tonnes, against 167.8 million tonnes produced in the corresponding period last year, reflecting a 9.9 percent growth.

This was stated by Minister of State for Coal, Statistics and Programme Implementation Sriprakash Jaiswal after a review of the performance of Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries.

Among the subsidiaries, Neyveli Lignite Corp (NLC), South Eastern Coalfields, Bharat Coking Coal, Eastern Coalfields and Western Coalfields have exceeded the targets set for the period under review, Jaiswal said.

NLC registered a production of 30.54 million tonnes as against a target of 29.89 million tonnes, while South Eastern Coalfields recorded 48.43 million tonnes against the targeted 47.47 million tonnes.

Bharat Coking, set a target of 11.86 million tonnes, produced 11.99 million tonnes, Eastern Coalfields achieved production of 12.42 million tonnes as against the target of 12.09 million tonnes, while Western Coalfields produced of 21.16 million tonnes as against target of 20.3 million tonnes.

Two other subsidiaries, Central Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields, failed to achieve the target though both registered production growth over the like period last year. (IANS)