Coal India Limited (CIL) to close fiscal with 120 million tonnes of coal offered under e-auction mode

Coal India Limited (CIL) will close the current fiscal with 120 million tonnes of coal offered under the e-auction mode, the highest ever amount auctioned by the company, it is said..

The miner registered an annual growth of 76.2 per cent during April-December 2020 in the sale of coal under the auction mode. It booked 81.4 million tonnes of coal under the five auctions it held till December. This was an additional volume expansion of 35.2 million tonnes over the same period last year.

Apart from long-term fuel supply agreements that CIL has with power plants and several non-power companies, it also periodically holds e-auctions of coal for several other industries.

The Coronavirus-induced lockdown followed by sluggish growth in industrial activity and demand from the electricity sector hit coal demand and thereby the revenue stream of CIL from existing supply contracts. The company increased supply of coal under auction mode to meet the demands of industries which do not have long-term fuel supply agreements with CIL.

In October, CIL launched a special category of e-auction of coal for those companies and traders which import coal to meet their requirements. Under this special auction, 7.3 million tonnes of coal was booked in the three auction rounds held.

These auctions are in line with the Centre's efforts to bring down coal import to zero.