Coal India wants clarity on imported coal demand by users before moving ahead on the MoU it had signed for a joint venture with Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) in 2010, a top SCI official has said.
"Coal India Chairman S Narsing Rao first wants clarity on demand of imported coal by the users first before moving ahead on the MoU for coal import," SCI Chairman and Managing Director S Hajara told PTI.
CIL and SCI had signed an MoU for a 50:50 joint venture company in late 2010, to offer an end-to-end solution for the logistics for imported coal by industry, when Partha S Bhattacaryya was the Chairman.
CIL had also floated contracts for long-term coal import for 10 years of 250 million tonnes and three companies were even shortlisted but they never fructified.
CIL in the new Fuel Supply Agreement wants to meet coal supply obligation to the tune of 65 per cent from domestic sources and another 15 per cent from imported sources, if demanded by users.
Till now there is no clear direction from the major coal users like NTPC whether they want to get their coal imported directly or engage CIL to do the job.
The proposed JV company was also planning to induce partners like Railways and NTPC.
The JV company proposes to work towards chartering ships, developing required transportation logistics to supply imported coal directly at the doorsteps of users.