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Coal India Ltd reported a 17.3% fall in fourth-quarter profit on Sunday, as the world's largest coal miner made higher provisions for wage hikes.

Consolidated net profit fell to 55.33 billion Indian rupees ($677.07 million) in the three-months ending March 31, compared with 66.93 billion rupees a year earlier, the state-run company said in an exchange filing.

Net sales rose 17.3% to 351.61 billion rupees.

The company said its provisions for a wage hike stood at 58.70 billion rupees, adding that it would have had its highest ever quarterly profit had the provision not been made.

India, the world's second-largest coal consumer and importer, saw higher demand for coal as power plants stocked up the fuel in anticipation of a surge in summer electricity consumption.

The Kolkata-based company said it saw higher realization per tonne of coal at 4,526 rupees under auction segment in the fourth quarter, up 86% from a year ago.

Coal India breached its annual production target of 700 million tonnes in the financial year 2022-23, the first time it had surpassed its goal since the fiscal year that ended in March 2006.

($1 = 81.7200 Indian rupees)