Coal India Q2 Net Profit Jumps 53% to Rs 6,516 Crore as Subsidiary SECL Files for Mega OFS IPO
State-owned mining heavyweight Coal India Limited (CIL) delivered a blockbuster week for Dalal Street, marked by strong quarterly earnings and the formal filing of draft papers for the initial public offering (IPO) of its key operating subsidiary, South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL).
Q2 Net Profit Soars 53%
For the second quarter ended September 30, Coal India reported a 53% year-on-year surge in consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 6,516 crore compared to Rs 4,259 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Key quarterly financial highlights include:
- Revenue from Operations: Climbed 20.9% year-on-year to Rs 44,179 crore, up from Rs 36,553 crore.
- EBITDA: Advanced 28.9% year-on-year to Rs 8,499 crore.
- Operating Margins: EBITDA margin expanded by approximately 120 basis points to 19.2%.
- Interim Dividend: The board approved a second interim dividend of Rs 10.25 per equity share of face value Rs 10, establishing a record date of November 4.
The revenue uptick was underpinned by robust offtake across thermal power utilities and industrial end-users, along with resilient average price realisations across fuel supply agreements.
SECL Files DRHP for Multi-Billion Public Offer
Alongside its financial results, Coal India officially submitted the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for SECL with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), BSE, and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The proposed offering is structured as a 100% Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to 66.81 crore equity shares (having a face value of Rs 2 each), representing a 10% dilution of Coal India’s holding. Since there is no fresh equity issue component, the entire IPO proceeds—which market estimates suggest could reach up to $800 million—will flow directly into Coal India's balance sheet rather than to SECL.
The book-running lead managers for the issue are SBI Capital Markets, ICICI Securities, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, while KFin Technologies will serve as the registrar.
The proposed reservation structure for the net offer is:
- Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs): Not more than 50% of the net issue.
- Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs): Not less than 15% of the net issue.
- Retail Individual Investors (RIIs): Not less than 35% of the net issue.
Operational and Financial Footprint of SECL
Headquartered in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, SECL is Coal India's second-largest producing subsidiary and a critical anchor of India's domestic energy security. In FY26, SECL mined 176.29 million tonnes of coal, accounting for 16.94% of India’s overall coal output and 22.95% of Coal India’s total production.
The company operates 53 producing mines (comprising 19 opencast and 34 underground pits) across the Korba, Mand-Raigarh, and Central India coalfields. Its operations are anchored by mega opencast sites—Gevra, Kusmunda, and Dipka—which rank among the world's largest coal-producing operations.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, SECL generated revenue from operations of Rs 32,956.5 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 4,754.6 crore. Its momentum extended into the first half of FY27, where revenue rose to Rs 16,593.7 crore and net profit jumped sharply to Rs 2,174.3 crore from Rs 1,140.9 crore in the year-ago period.
Strategic Significance for Indian Investors
The filing follows the draft submission by another major subsidiary, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), representing a sustained push by the Ministry of Coal and Coal India to unlock subsidiary valuations and broaden public market liquidity.
For institutional and retail market participants, SECL's impending mainboard listing offers direct equity access to long-life, low-cost pithead reserves supporting India's baseline base-load power expansion. Concurrently, the monetisation provides parent company Coal India with significant cash inflows that enhance scope for sustained capital expenditure and generous shareholder dividends.
