The energy minister asked the state-owned mining company, which has little experience of importing coal, to place orders for deliveries from overseas last week, as utilities suggested that multiple tenders would cause confusion and demanded centralized procurement through Coal India.
Indian officials are rushing to make more coal available to utilities as shortages in the July-September quarter are expected to be 15% higher than initial estimates due to higher power demand forecasts.
The short-term tender will request delivery of imported coal between July and December, while the medium-term tender will request supplies between July 2022 and June 2023, officials said, who do not wish to be identified. .
Tenders will be launched on a business-to-business (B2B) basis, as government-to-government (G2G) imports – suggested by the energy minister last week – would delay the process, officials said.
Coal India plans to launch the tenders by June 7, officials said, adding that the decision to import was approved by the company’s board on Thursday.
India has reversed a policy to reduce thermal coal imports and plans to reopen closed mines to meet growing power demand. Coal represents nearly 75% of India’s electricity production and Coal India produces 80% of domestic coal.
A decision on the quantity of imports, the quality of coal and the ports of destination will be made after consultation with the Federal Minister of Energy, the official said, adding that the deadline for states to submit their requirements to the Minister of Energy energy has been extended from May 31 to June 3.
Importers will be free to choose the country from which they wish to import, officials said.
Indonesia, Australia and South Africa are the main suppliers of thermal coal to India, the second largest importer of coal in the world despite being the second largest producer behind China.
In April, India faced its worst power crisis in more than six years due to rising power demand, despite Coal India’s record output in the past year. ends in March 2022.
Coal India has previously blamed lower production at import-based coal plants, adding that fewer imports put more pressure on domestic mining.
The energy minister had estimated that the utilities’ total need for imported coal to mix with domestic fuel would be 58.7 million tonnes this year, but the amount offered could be lower, one of the officials said.