In a first, CIL to import 2.416 mn tonne coal

NEW DELHI: The State-owned Coal India Limited on Thursday said that it has floated its maiden tender to import 2.416 million tonnes of coal to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants in the country.

The development assumes significance in the wake of the government making all efforts to build up stock of coal to avoid the reoccurrence of power outages which happened in April on account of shortage of the fossil fuel. “In a first ever, Coal India Limited (CIL) on Wednesday floated an international competitive bidding e-tender, seeking bids for import of 2.416 million tonnes of coal,” the company said in a statement.

The coal being sourced on behalf of the state generating companies (gencos) and independent power plants (IPPs) is based on the indents received from them. It is for July-September period of the current fiscal year, the statement said.

Though coal import is an uncharted terrain for CIL, within a week of receiving indents from the seven state gencos and 19 IPPs, for a total of 2.41.6 million tonnes of coal, the company on a war footing has finalised and floated the tender. The current short-term tender for import of dry fuel for the second quarter of the ongoing financial year is source agnostic. This means the coal can be sourced from any country.

The Centre had nominated the maharatna firm as a centralised agency to increase coal supplies to state gencos and IPPs through import of dry-fuel at a time when the demand for coal is high. The last date for the receipt of bids is June 29. There is an option of pre-bid meeting on June 14 to seek clarification on any nuances of the tender, CIL said. After the price discovery, CIL will immediately execute a contract with the successful bidder for supply of coal. Then the state owned coal miner will enter into a back-to-back pact with state gencos and IPPs to whom coal has to be supplied.

The coal imported will be routed through nine ports located in east and west coasts of the country.

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