Coal India Dispatches 375 MT by Rail with Third-Party Sampling Till December FY26

Coal India Ltd. has dispatched 375 million tonnes (MT) of coal by rail till December of FY26, with the entire volume sampled by independent third-party agencies, reinforcing its emphasis on quality assurance and supply reliability.

The state-owned miner said it transported around 375 million tonnes of coal through the rail network, all of which was sampled by third-party sampling agencies, up to December in the ongoing financial year. The milestone reflects Coal India’s sharper focus on quality control and supply-chain dependability at a time when domestic coal demand continues to rise, driven largely by the power sector, which relies heavily on coal for electricity generation.

“Till December FY 2026, CIL has despatched about 375 million tonnes (MTS) of coal through rail mode which was sampled by TPSAs,” Coal India said in a filing to the BSE.

Third-party sampling push

The company noted that the scale of dispatches demonstrates the effectiveness of government-mandated third-party sampling protocols aimed at ensuring unbiased quality assessment, reducing disputes with power producers, and curbing pilferage.

Coal India added that nearly half of the total coal dispatches were routed through silos, where automatic mechanical samplers are installed to maintain high standards of coal quality and tighter process control.

The coal major is targeting an increase in this share to around 80 per cent during the current fiscal. To meet this ambitious goal, the commissioning of new first-mile connectivity projects and expanded silo-based loading is being pursued rigorously.

To ensure impartial, transparent, and credible determination of coal quality, as required under fuel supply agreements, CIL facilitates sampling and testing through independent Third-Party Sampling Agencies (TPSAs).

Why third-party sampling?

Currently, 11 TPSAs empanelled by Power Finance Corporation Ltd. (PFCL) are engaged in sampling and analysis at coal loading points across Coal India’s subsidiary companies.

Coal consumers are allowed to choose a TPSA from the PFCL-empanelled list for quality assessment. In addition, CIL has initiated online coal analysis at two of its subsidiaries to generate real-time quality results.

The initiative is aimed at further strengthening transparency and technology adoption in sampling processes. Despite these measures, domestic coal remains highly heterogeneous, with quality variations even within the same seam. As a result, gross calorific values of samples drawn from different locations on the same rake often differ.

Nevertheless, the use of technology-led quality assessment has emerged as a key focus area for Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the country’s domestic coal production.