Coal India, a maharatna public state undertaking (PSU), posted a fourth quarter net profit (PAT) of ₹9,592.53 crore, a robust 12% rise from the previous year’s figure of ₹8,530.39 crore. The revenue from operations for the reporting quarter, however, dipped slightly from last year to ₹7,824.54 crore, compared to ₹38,213.48 crore. The Board also declared a final dividend of ₹5.15 per share, bringing the total FY25 payout to ₹26.50 per share, up from ₹25.50 a year ago.

With an unprecedentedly hotter summer season expected in India, driven by climate change, the demand for power, the primary consumer of coal in India, accounting for about 64% of total consumption, is expected to maintain an upward trajectory. India also aims to increase its coal-fired capacity by 80 gigawatts by 2031-32, to meet this growing demand for power.

For the full year, CIL reported revenue of ₹1,43,368.92 crore, just a breath shy of last year’s ₹1,44,762.42 crore. Net profit in the reporting quarter fell modestly to ₹35,302.10 crore from ₹37,369.13 crore, while EBITDA margins held strong at 41%, up from 40%. Coal India shares had ended the day's trading session 1.44% higher on the BSE. 

Meanwhile, operational mettle remained firm. Coal India clocked 781.05 million tonnes of coal production, an uptick of 1%, and offloaded 763.06 million tonnes, also up by 1%. Its overburden removal—an essential barometer of mining momentum—grew 3% to 2,018.20 M.CuM.

In March, CIL formed Coal Gas India Ltd with GAIL, taking its first major step into coal-to-chemicals—a 51:49 joint venture set to birth a synthetic natural gas facility in the ECL command zone. On another frontier, it became the first in the country to monetise a coal washery in Dugda, while laying foundation stones for clean energy innovation with the CLEANZ R&D centre in Hyderabad.

Beyond inward-looking developments, the quarter also witnessed the entry of Coal India into critical minerals, marked by winning India’s first graphite block in Madhya Pradesh, which signals a recalibration of strategy toward future-facing resources. On the sustainability front, the company commissioned a 50 MW solar power plant—its largest so far—at Nigahi.