NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government has raised India's coal production by over 144 million tonne (mt) in the five years it has been in power, overshooting by 5% the 138mt added to the country's output in the 10 years of UPA rule between 2004 and 2014.Production by Coal India ( CIL ), the state-run miner accounting for nearly 90% of domestic supplies, stood at a little over 462mt when the Modi government took over in May 2014. Five years since then, production by the country's largest coal miner stands at 607mt in 2018-19, coal ministry data shows.In contrast, CIL's production stood at 324mt in 2004-05 when the UPA-1 government came to power and rose to 404mt by 2008-09, indicating an addition of 80mt in the five-year period. In the subsequent five years, the UPA-2 government added 79mt to take the total production to 607mt.Data shows coal offtake too largely keeping pace with production, indicating improved evacuation and transportation due to greater synergy between the coal and railway ministries. Quick decisions and clearances for mine expansions have also contributed to the sharp rise in production."There is a clear vision and direction from the leadership. The railway and coal ministries are working as a team with the power and other consumer ministries. Improved coordination with forest and environment ministry has ensured speedy clearances for mine expansion and evacuation projects," a coal ministry official said.But at the end, it is people who execute plans and can make or mar them. Here too, the ministry has taken care to motivate miners and executives by settling the wage issues and clearing gratuity payment, totalling several thousands of crores in employee welfare.The result of this coordinated approach is showing on the ground as none of the coal-fired power stations monitored by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is starving for fuel, though several still show stocks of less than a week. But still, it is a far cry from 2014 when 66% of the units were doddering due to critical coal inventories.