CIL makes another attempt for coal import contract

Kolkata: Country's largest miner Coal India has issued a re-tender for import of coal with some modifications and is expecting a better response from prospective vendors.

"We have issued re-tender for the coal import contract with some modifications. The tender is likely to open in first week of this month," Coal India Director (Marketing) Bipin Kumar Saxena said.

"We are hopeful of receiving interest from prospective vendors," he said.

Coal India had failed to elicit a response during its first attempt to find a vendor for the contract for import of 5 million tonnes of coal, valued at about Rs 3,000 crore.

The first tender floated in November 2013 sought to appoint a vendor through competitive bidding to import coal to bridge a shortfall in supplies to customers.

Coal India sought to import the fuel on behalf of its consumers on a cost-plus basis to meet its fuel supply agreement obligations.

The miner would supply 65 percent of the total requirement from domestic sources and 15 percent through imports.

The demand-supply gap for coal was expanding for Coal India as it faced a production shortfall of 17 million tonnes for the nine-month period (April-December 2013) from its target.

India's coal demand is about 600 million tonnes a year against production of 482 million tonnes by Coal India.