IPO-bound CMPDI bets on parent Coal India to power future growth

IPO-bound Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), the mining consultancy arm of Coal India Ltd, is betting on the state-run miner’s ambitious production expansion to drive its own growth in the coming years, even as it looks to diversify into critical minerals and overseas projects.The organization’s relationship with Coal India should not be seen as a dependency but rather a “symbiotic” partnership that has evolved over the last five decades, said Chaudhari Shivraj Singh, chairman and managing director at CMPDI, told Mint.“CMPDI has been with Coal India for nearly 50 years and has played a big role in bringing the company to its current scale. All exploration, mine planning and prioritisation of mining activities have been carried out by CMPDI,” Singh said.Coal India continues to dominate India’s coal output, accounting for about 67% of the country’s production last year, while the remaining 33% came from government, public sector and private companies.

With coal demand rising alongside economic growth and electricity consumption, Singh expects this broad share to remain stable even as overall volumes increase.Coal India has set an ambitious production target of reaching one billion tonnes and eventually 1.5 billion tonnes. “The company produced around 781 million tonnes last year.

Achieving these targets will require opening new mines and expanding exploration activities, which in turn ensures a steady pipeline of work for CMPDI,” said Mukesh Agrawal, director-finance, Coal India, in an interview.“There is no question of the budget shrinking because if production has to increase, more mines will need to be opened. That means more exploration and planning work,” Agarwal said, addressing a risk of