Captive and Commercial Coal Mines Produce 22.03 MT in October 2026

The Ministry of Coal has reported a sharp rise in output from India's captive and commercial coal mines. These mines produced 22.03 million tonnes (MT) of coal in October 2026, against 15.49 MT in the same month of 2025. That works out to a year-on-year increase of roughly 42 per cent.

Dispatch keeps pace with output

Coal actually sent out of these mines, or dispatch, touched 21.11 MT during October 2026. The figure for October 2025 was 15.48 MT, so dispatch grew by about 36 per cent over the year. Output and dispatch moving up together suggests that the extra coal is reaching users rather than piling up at pitheads.

The April to October picture

Taken over the seven months from April to October, production climbed from 105.33 MT to 117.23 MT, a gain of 11.30 per cent, while dispatch rose from 111.95 MT to 124.86 MT, up 11.53 per cent. The ministry reads these numbers as a sign of better operational efficiency, higher mining productivity and fuller use of the capacity already sanctioned in this part of the coal sector. The current financial year is 2026-27.

Lohari mine and the count of working mines

A further boost came from the Lohari coal mine in Jharkhand, which received its Mine Opening Permission during October 2026. The mine had waited several years to begin work, and the ministry credits its clearance to the ease of doing business reforms it has pushed. With Lohari added, the number of captive and commercial coal mines actually in operation has gone up to 87.

Why the numbers matter

Higher output from this segment is expected to cut India's reliance on imported coal, make the supply chain steadier and save foreign exchange. Since coal remains a basic raw material for industry, the ministry links the growth to the wider goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliance. It says it will keep working on policy measures, regulatory oversight and removal of supply bottlenecks so that coal availability improves for the country's growing energy and industrial needs.