CIL's coal allocation under spot e-auction scheme drops 7% in April-June

CIL's coal allocation under spot e-auction scheme registered 7.1 per cent decline to 6.89 million tonne in April-June this fiscal, in the wake of slump in fuel demand due to Covid-19 induced lockdown.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) had allocated 7.42 million tonne (MT) of coal in the year-ago period, according to government data.

However, the coal allocated by the PSU in June increased to 3.68 MT, compared to 2.07 MT in the corresponding month of 2019-20, it said.

Coal distribution through e-auction was introduced with a view to provide access to coal for such buyers who are not able to source the dry fuel through the available institutional mechanism, as per the information available on CIL website.

The purpose of e-auction is to provide equal opportunity to all intending buyers for purchasing coal through single window service.

Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.

CIL's coal allocation under spot e-auction scheme had declined to 29.83 MT in 2019-2020, over 34.34 MT allocated in 2018-19.

CIL, which is already reeling under the pandemic stress-causing adverse impact on demand and supply of dry fuel, had last month said the situation will remain uncertain in July-September as some states are resorting to fresh lockdowns.

The coal production in some of the major mines is still affected due to high coal stock and less offtake, the PSU had said.

Pithead stock of CIL as on July 16 was 72.88 MT as compared to 33.17 MT during the same period last year, it had said.

Due to the continuing lockdown and various guidelines issued by the central and state governments, normalcy has not been restored yet, affecting coal production and despatch, Coal India had said.

In view of fast-spreading coronavirus, the government had announced a nationwide lockdown from March 25, which was further extended in phases.