World's largest coal miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), issued a tender to import 2.42 million tonnes (MT) of coal by end-September to boost fuel availability amid fears of a shortage, the company said in a statement.
According to a report by Reuters, last month the power ministry asked the state-run miner, which has little experience in importing coal, was asked to place orders for shipments from overseas.
According to a tender document, the company is seeking deliveries at power stations.
Coal India will issue another tender for delivery in the July 2022-June 2023 period on Saturday.
The states had demanded a total of 2.4 million tonnes of coal, with some states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka offering to import coal by themselves.
According to news reports, the estimated value of the contract is Rs 3,100 crore, Coal India said in the tender document.
The imported coal would be supplied to state government-run gencos and independent power producers, 1.2 MT each.
The independent power producers include Sembcorp Energy, JP Power, Avantha Power, Lanco, Rattan India, GMR, CESC, Vedanta Power, Jindal India Thermal, among others. The states which will receive imported coal for their generating stations are Punjab, Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
The Power Ministry directed CIL to import coal for state and private gencos last month.
On the other hand, the coal ministry has questioned the concerns over coal shortage in the coming months saying that there is enough stock available. The ministry said that is up to power generators to stock up before the monsoon.