Coal India Edges Lower On Manpower Restructuring Plans to improve productivity and reduce operational costs

Coal India shares have edged lower in a soft market a day after the world’s largest mining company announced plans to improve productivity and reduce operational costs. In an earnings call on Tuesday, Coal India said that it would reduce its manpower by 5 per cent each year for the next 5-10 years to improve productivity and reduce operational costs. Coal India has 2,72,445 employees as of financial year 2020. At 11:00 am, Coal India shares were trading lower by 0.6 per cent at Rs 156 on the BSE.

Coal India has also decided to close unviable mines, as part of its cost-cutting efforts. As many as 158 underground mines employ 43 per cent of the workforce and contribute a mere 5 per cent of the company’s total production. And production in 11 such mines has already been suspended, according to Coal India.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Coal India reported a 0.8 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,588.96 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 and announced a final dividend of Rs 3.5 per share, taking its total payout in FY2021 to Rs 16 per share.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading lower by 0.41 per cent at the time.