New Delhi: State-owned CIL reported a 3.3 percent 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 percent 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.-PTI