India will continue to suffer shortage of coal in spite of government's attempts to rope in private sector companies to enhance production, Coal India Ltd. (CIL) said.

CIL, the world's biggest coal producer, is confident that it would be able to increase coal production by another 180 million tonne (MT) during the 12th Five Year Plan period, but warned that it would not be sufficient to meet the country's energy requirements.

As per CIL's estimates, domestic production of coal will not go beyond 795-800 MT by the end of the running Five Year Plan, and the shortage of coal will touch 20 per cent in the coming five years.

CIL Chairman Narsing Rao said, "Considering that the domestic demand for coal is expected to be at 1 billion tonne by end of that period, the shortage would be in the region of 200 MT."

Rao also said that CIL was ready to sign fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with 80 per cent commitment.

The 11th Five Year Plan, which concluded in March, had envisaged 104 MT of coal production from a total of ninety-three captive blocks. But actual production was just 36 MT.

Rao said delays in environment and forest clearances, and the lack of sufficient evacuation infrastructure were among the main issues being faced by the industry. He urged the government to pass of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill so that acquisition of land for coal projects could become easier and unambiguous.