Coal India Q3 net profit drops 16 pc on lower sales

State-owned CIL on Thursday reported a 15.8 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 7,157.45 crore in the quarter ended December 2025, amid lower sales and higher expenses. Coal India Ltd (CIL), which accounts for 80 per cent of domestic coal output, logged a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,505.57 crore in the year-ago period. In a filing to BSE, the Maharatna firm said that its sales dropped to Rs 30,818.17 crore from Rs 32,358.98 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The consolidated expenses of the company during the reporting third quarter increased to Rs 28,132 crore compared to Rs 27,280 crore in the year-ago period, CIL said. The board of directors has declared a third interim dividend of Rs 5.50 per equity share for the financial year 2025-26. The first and second interim dividends of Rs 5.50 and Rs 10.25 per equity share were declared in July and October, respectively. In the first nine months of the current financial year, the company produced 529.19 million tonnes (MT), less than 543.36 MT produced in the April-December period of the previous fiscal. The coal offtake by CIL in the April-December period of FY26 was 545.74 MT, down from 561.68 MT in the year-ago period. Coal India Ltd is the single largest coal producer in the world. Across eight Indian states, CIL operates in 85 mining areas, managing a total of 310 working mines, consisting of 129 underground, 168 opencast and 13 mixed mines. The PSU contributes to 80 per cent of total domestic coal production and 75 per cent of total coal-based power generation. CIL contributes to 55 per cent of total power generation and meets 40 per cent of the primary commercial energy requirements of the country. CIL aims to increase coal production to 1 billion tonnes (BT) by 2028-29, up from 781 million tonnes in 2024-25, to reduce dependence on imports and meet domestic demand.