Coal India Agrees On 25 Per Cent Hike In Allowances For Non-Executive Workers

Under the agreement, a 19 per cent minimum guaranteed benefit from July 1, 2021, on emoluments and a 25 per cent increase in allowances have been granted to non-executive workers, CIL said

State-run miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), on Monday said it has reached an agreement with its 2.38 lakh strong non-executive workers over the revision of wages. According to PTI, under the agreement reached, a 19 per cent minimum guaranteed benefit from July 1, 2021, on emoluments (basic, VDA, SDA & attendance bonus) and a 25 per cent increase in allowances have been granted, Coal India said.

"The Joint Bipartite Committee for the Coal Industry (JBCCI)-XI consisting of representatives of CIL management, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), five central trade unions i.e. BMS, HMS, AITUC, CITU and Indian National Mine Workers' Federation (INMF) on May 20, 2023, recommended and inked National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA)-XI for the period of five years w.e.f. 01.07.2021," the miner said.

Around 2.81 lakh employees of CIL and SCCL who were on the rolls of the company as on July 1, 2021, would be the beneficiaries post-implementation of the agreement.

The CIL has also made a provision of Rs 9,252.24 crore for a period of 21 months effective July 1, 2021, to March 31, 2023, for this effect. The final impact of the 25 per cent increase in allowances will be intimated shortly which is not likely to be significant. Wages of the non-executive workers, which account for 94 per cent of Coal India's workforce, are revised every five years.

India's coal production increased by 8.5 per cent during April 2023, reaching 73.14 million tonnes (MT), as per data from the Ministry of Coal showed last week. Comparatively, in April 2022, the country produced 67.20 MT of coal. Coal ministry data showed that India achieved 94.89 per cent of its targeted coal production for April 2023, which stood at 77.08 MT.

CIL along with its subsidiaries produced 57.57 MT of coal, up 7.67 per cent over 53.47 MT in April 2022. The coal production of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) rose by 4.77 per cent to 5.57 MT, from 5.32 MT in the same month a year ago. While the production from other captive mines was at 10 MT, against 8.41 MT in April 2022, registering a rise of 18.93 per cent. Against the 82.26 MT target for April 2023, India's coal despatch was at 80.35 MT, up 11.66 per cent from 71.96 MT during April 2022.

Shares of Coal India closed lower by 0.60 per cent at Rs 238.35 on the BSE on Monday.