Partha S. Bhattacharyya in Calcutta on Thursday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, April 6: Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) has declared a profit of Rs 156.11 crore in 2005-06 ? the first since its inception in 1971.

The profit takes into account the impact of wage revision under the National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA)-VII.

In the previous fiscal, BCCL suffered a loss of Rs 959.43 crore.

Partha S. Bhattacharyya, chairman and managing director of BCCL, said the company hoped to wipe out accumulated losses of Rs 7,044 crore by 2011-12. BCCL’s networth had also turned negative at Rs 4,962 crore and it was referred to the Board for Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Bhattacharyya said he expected the company to come out of the BIFR by 2010-11.

Coal India has promised to write off a loan amounting to Rs 3,400 crore to help BCCL tide over its financial crisis.

Bhattacharyya attributed the turnaround to improved coal production.

Reversing the declining trend, BCCL recorded a 4.4 per cent or around 1-million-tonne higher production in 2005-06.

The company is aiming to produce 24.9 mt during 2006-07 compared with 23 mt in 2005-06.

Last year, production of raw coking coal stood at 4.6 mt while washed coke was 2.3 mt. This year, the company has set a 10 per cent higher production target.

BCCL sells the entire coking coal produced to the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) at a little over $100 a tonne.

The international price for such a transaction is $120 a tonne.

Bhattacharyya said the negotiations for this year’s annual contract could be concluded by June.

BCCL also plans to develop a coking coal block at Kapuriah near Jharia along with a partner as the project requires huge investments. The company is in talks with the Tatas and SAIL.

BCCL operates 76 mines, of which 74 are in Jharia and two in Ranigunj.