Coal India Limited (CIL) would negotiate the tender document with the prospective bidders for development of its seven identified underground mines on March 7.
“The tender document for development of the seven underground mines has been prepared by Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), a subsidiary of CIL. We would hold talks with the prospective bidders for these mines on March 7”, NC Jha, director (technical) told Business Standard. The bids for the development of these seven underground mines are likely to be invited by CIL by the end of this month. Last month, the coal PSU (public sector undertaking) had sent the draft Notice Inviting Tender to the nine shortlisted firms.
CIL had shortlisted nine overseas firms for development of these underground mines and some of these firms have joint ventures with Indian companies. The selected firms would be responsible for planning, designing and operating these underground coal mines.
The coal major had identified seven underground coal blocks which are located in the mining areas of its subsidiaries like Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) and Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
It was looking to rope in some reputed overseas coal firms who could run these mines with state-of-the-art technology. Initially, the selected firms will also bear the costs of operation of such mines and the expenses would be later reimbursed by CIL.
Asked if CIL was aiming to scale up the quantum of coal offered through the e-auction mode, Jha said, “We can raise the quantity of coal being offered for sale through the e-auction mode only after we receive any communication from the Union coal ministry. At present, CIL is offering 10 per cent of its total coal production through the e-auction mode which is as per the New Coal distribution policy of 2007.”
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“The decision to offer higher quantity of coal through e-auction would also depend on the market response from the coal consumers. Since the introduction of the e-auction system in 2007, CIL has offered about 76 million tonnes of coal out of which the sale of only 38 million tonnes has materialised”, he added. Recently, Kirit Parikh, member (energy) of the Planning Commission had recommended that CIL should aim to sell at least 20 per cent of its coal output through e-auction. CIL targeted to offer around 42 million tonnes of coal through the e-auction mode in 2008-09. Coal distribution through e-auction was introduced in the New Coal distribution policy in 2007 to provide access to coal to such buyers who were not able to source the raw material through the available institutional mechanism. The purpose of e-auction is to provide equal opportunities to all coal consumers to purchase coal through a single window service.