DUSHANBE, July 14, 2016, Asia-Plus /Payrav Chorshanbiyev/ -- Over the first six months of this year, Tajikistan has produced more than 500,000 tons of coal, which was 177,000 tons more than in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Energy and New Technologies (MoINT).

An official source at a MoINT says Tajikistan is currently producing up to 7,000 tons of coal per day.

Last year, Tajikistan reportedly produced more than one million tons of coal, which was 130,000 tons more than in 2014.     

Coal production has reportedly increased due to a shift in the country’s industrial enterprises from more expensive natural gas and electricity to more economical coal for heating and other needs.

Since 2007, more than more than 160 industrial enterprises in Tajikistan have been shifted to coal, the source said.  More than 200 coal-fired enterprises now operate in Tajikistan.

Fifteen coal-producing enterprises now operate in Tajikistan.  Fon-Yaghnob Mine is Tajikistan’s largest coal-producing enterprise.