NEW DELHI: Amid the reports of coal shortage in the country, Coal India Limited (CIL) on Thursday informed it has floated an international tender to import 2.416 million tonnes (MTs) of coal on behalf of the state generating companies (gencos) and independent power plants (IPPs). This is the first time India’s largest coal producer issued a tender to import coal.
“In a first ever, Coal India Limited (CIL) on Wednesday floated an international competitive bidding e-tender, seeking bids for import of 2.416 million tonnes (MTs) of coal,” said the company in a statement.
CIL will source coal on behalf of the state generating companies (gencos) and independent power plants (IPPs) based on the indents received from them. It is for the July-September period of the current fiscal year.
There is a provision in the tender to accommodate a variation of above or below 30% of the bid quantity. The coal being sought is 5000 GAR (gross as received) thermal grade coal.
As the coal shortage continues to impact the thermal power plants, the power ministry asked the state gencos to import coal for blending purposes. The ministry, in its order on 18 May 2022, also warned the power generators if orders for coal imports are not placed by 31 May 2022, the defaulter gencos will have to increase their imports to the extent of 15%. Also if blending with domestic coal does not start by June 15, the domestic allocation of the concerned defaulters' thermal power plants will be further reduced by 5%.
The government had nominated CIL as a centralized agency to augment coal supplies to state gencos and IPPs through the import of coal. CIL in its Board meeting held on 2 June had given its nod for the company to proceed ahead with the issuance of two international tenders for sourcing coal from overseas, a short term and a medium-term tender. The current short term tender for the import of coal, for Q2 of FY’23, is source agnostic. This means the coal can be sourced from any country.
“Though coal import is an uncharted terrain for CIL, within a week of receiving indents from the 7 State Gencos and 19 IPPs, for a total of 2.416 MTs of coal, the company on a war footing has finalized and floated the tender,” said CIL.
The company said the last date for the receipt of bids is 29 June 2022. There is an option of a pre-bid meeting on 14 June 2022 to seek clarification on any nuances of the tender. After the price discovery, CIL shall immediately execute a contract with the successful bidder for the supply of coal. Then the state-owned coal miner shall enter into a back to back agreement with state gencos and IPPs to whom coal has to be supplied.
The coal imported shall be routed through 9 ports located on the east and west coasts of the country. The successful agency, selected through the bidding process, shall deliver coal to the doorstep of the power plants of state gencos and IPPs.
However, the industry experts are of the view that the government should bear the difference between the landed cost of imported coal and the landed cost of domestic coal. “Such cases Ministry of Power should bear the difference of the landed cost of imported coal and landed cost of domestic coal and State Gencos should not be punished because of none of their fault,” said Shailendra Dubey Chairman of All India Power Engineer’s Federation (AIPEF).
Meanwhile, according to the Central Electricity Authority’s daily coal report ( 7 June 2022), the coal stock at 95 out of 173 thermal power plants is at critical levels.