NEW DELHI: In a bid to enhance coal availability for non-regulated sector (NRS) customers, Coal India Limited (CIL) has tweaked its policy to allow coal supplies beyond the Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) during long-term linkage auctions. The decision, effective from November 13, 2024, will be implemented starting with the upcoming Tranche VIII linkage auction, which will first cover the cement and captive power plant sub-sectors.
“We have introduced a slew of customer-friendly initiatives recently to make increased availability of coal easier to our consumers and this is one such step” said a senior official of CIL.
This new policy shift comes in response to requests from NRS customers who have sought coal supplies beyond the 85 per cent capacity norm previously in place. Previously, NRS customers could only obtain coal up to the quantity that would sustain operations at 85 per cent of their plant's installed capacity for an entire year. Any requirement above this had to be procured through other means.
With the latest change, customers in the NRS category can now access coal beyond their ACQ, providing greater flexibility. To incentivize higher supply, CIL has introduced a performance-based incentive, offering a 50 per cent premium on the bid price for coal provided beyond 100 per cent of the ACQ.
So far, CIL has allocated 177.6 million tonnes of coal through seven rounds of linkage auctions since 2016. In addition to this, CIL has now allowed for the inter-plant transfer of coal among plants within the same sub-sector. NRS customers can also switch the mode of coal transport between rail and road without incurring additional costs.