CIL notifies coal e-auction for sectors such as cement, steel



Source: THE HINDU

Coal India Ltd. on Thursday announced the commencement of the fourth tranche of auction of coal linkages for non-regulated sectors such as cement, steel/sponge iron, aluminium and others. This includes captive power plants too, CIL said in a regulatory filing.

About 57 million tonnes of coal were earlier put on offer through the three tranches of e-auction since June 2016.

These went to the various non-regulated user sectors, including cement, sponge iron and captive power plants. The grades were that of thermal coal.

The auction is conducted by MSTC Limited (formerly known as Metal Scrap Trade Corporation).

The move to allot coal through this route follows the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in this regard two years ago.

Transparent mechanism

The Cabinet Committee aimed at putting in place a transparent mechanism to enable the user sectors to secure coal linkages irrespective of the size of the industry or their geographic location, through a market mechanism.

The policy initiative followed the logic of the e-auction of coal mines after the cancellation of allocation of the 204 coal blocks in 2014.

The government sought to extend the same philosophy of non-discretionary allocation to coal linkages.

Source: THE HINDU