Coal India’s Allocation To Power Sector Under E-Auction Drops 23% In First Half Of 2019-20
Under the e-auction route, Coal India allocated 16.95 million tonnes to the power sector in the first half of 2019-20.
Coal India Ltd. allocated 16.95 million tonnes of the dry fuel under special forward e-auction to the power sector in the April-November period of 2019-20, down 22.6 percent from the year-ago period.
The state-run miner had allocated 21.91 million tonnes of coal in the April-November period of 2018-19, according to the latest monthly summary by the coal ministry for the union cabinet. The coal allocation by the public sector undertaking under the scheme increased to 4.05 million tonnes in November 2019 as compared to 1.53 million tonnes in November 2018, it said.
The special forward e-auction scheme is aimed at making an earmarked quantity of coal available for supply through e-auction to all power producers.
All power producers, other than captive power plants already commissioned, are eligible to apply for the special forward e-auction.
Coal India had earlier said that it intends to tentatively offer 10 per cent of its targeted production of 660 million tonnes in 2019-20 through e-auction and out of which 50 percent of the quantity (33 million tonnes) is planned through special forward e-auction.
The company accounts for over 80 percent of domestic coal output. The state-owned firm had earlier said that it will produce 750 million tonnes of coal in the next fiscal. The firm will further produce 1 billion tonnes of coal by 2023-24, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi had earlier said.