Bharat Coking Coal output jumps 20.7% as underground production slumps

Bharat Coking Coal’s September 2026 production gain came with a sharp divide: output from opencast mines rose, while underground production fell by more than three-quarters. Total raw coal output increased 20.7% from a year earlier to 2.57 million tonnes, according to scanx.trade. The headline growth therefore masks very different results across the company’s two mining methods.

Raw coal production was up from 2.13 million tonnes in September 2025. Offtake—the volume of coal dispatched—also increased, reaching 3.15 million tonnes against 2.77 million tonnes a year earlier, a rise of 13.7%. The figures show that both mining and dispatch activity expanded over the year, although production grew at the faster percentage rate.

Dispatches nevertheless remained larger than production in absolute terms. That distinction matters when reading the monthly results: a faster growth rate for output does not mean the company mined more coal than it dispatched. The source does not provide an explanation for the difference between the two volumes, or details of coal stocks that would put that gap into context.

Opencast mines carry the increase

Opencast mines, which extract coal from the surface rather than through underground workings, produced 2.55 million tonnes in September. That was 24.4% more than a year earlier and accounted for almost all of the company’s reported raw coal output. Underground production moved sharply in the opposite direction, falling 76.6% to 0.02 million tonnes. The source gives no reason for that decline.

The split by coal type was similarly uneven. Coking coal, the category used in steelmaking, accounted for the bulk of production at 2.49 million tonnes, up 21.5% year on year. Non-coking coal output was reported at 0.07 million tonnes, with a marginal decline of 0.2%. The overall increase was therefore concentrated in coking coal rather than shared evenly across both categories.

Washed coking coal—coal processed to remove impurities—also recorded an increase. Production reached 0.13 million tonnes, compared with 0.10 million tonnes in September 2025. The reported year-on-year growth rate was 24.5%. Those tonnage figures are presented at rounded precision in the source, alongside the separately reported percentage change.

More coal, less overburden removed

Another operating measure moved lower. Overburden removal, the clearing of earth and rock above a coal deposit, fell 10.4% to 9.93 million cubic metres from 11.08 million cubic metres a year earlier. That decline sat alongside higher opencast production. The report does not explain the relationship between those movements or give a forecast for subsequent months.

The next operating figures will be worth watching for whether this uneven pattern continues: rising opencast and coking coal output, weaker underground production, and lower overburden removal. The balance between production and dispatches will also matter. For September, the clear result was stronger coal output and offtake, but not an improvement across every operating measure.