In A First, State-Owned Coal India Floats Global Tender For Coal Imports

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 (MTs) of coal, the company said in a release on Thursday (9 June).

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 release said.

There is a provision in the tender to accommodate a variation of above or below 30 percent of the bid quantity. The coal being sought is 5,000 GAR (gross as received) thermal grade coal, it added.

The Central government had nominated CIL as a centralised agency to augment coal supplies to state gencos and IPPs through import of coal, at a time when the demand for coal is high.

CIL's Board on 2 June had given its nod for the company to proceed ahead with the issuance of two international tenders for sourcing coal from overseas, a short term and a medium term tender.

The current short term tender for import of coal, for Q2 of FY23, is source agnostic, which means that the coal can be sourced from any country.

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 2.416 MTs of coal, the company on a war footing has finalised and floated the tender, the release said.

The last date for the receipt of bids is 29 June. There is an option of pre-bid meeting on 14th June to seek clarification on any nuances of the tender,

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 agreement 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. The successful agency, selected through the bidding process, will deliver coal at the doorstep of the power plants of state gencos and IPPs, the release said.