State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) is set to start forward e-auction soon. According to a proposal, end-users can now bid for required quantity of coal almost one year in advance under forward e-auction. At present, e-auction of coal happens only on spot.
?We would be launching forward e-auction within a month. Rather than participating in various e-auctions, end-users would now have the flexibility to bid for all 4 quarters at one go. At the same time, consumers can quote different quantity as well as different prices, varying from quarter to quarter,? CIL chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya told FE .
However, traders will not be allowed to participate in the forward e-auction process.
The coal major had re-launched the e-auction of coal only a couple of months ago. Earlier, the Supreme Court had banned the sale of coal through e-auction in December 2006, as it felt that the old system was hugely tilted in favour of large companies and could hit small-scale industries.
The government then scrapped the floor price for bidding under e-auction in a new coal distribution policy notified in October 2007. CIL is likely to e-auction roughly 40 million tonne of coal next fiscal. The government has earmarked a minimum of 10% of the total coal production to be sold through e-auction.