Sail to pay $150 per tonne for BCCL coal

Sail has to pay $150 per tonne in 2008-09, against $105 in the previous fiscal. "The price issue is settled. We will sell coking coal from BCCL at USD 150 per tonne, 40 per cent lower than the price we were supposed to sell at as per laid down guidelines," Coal India (CIL) Chairman Partha Bhattacharyya said .

Bharat Coking Coal is a 100 per cent subsidiary of CIL. "We were supposed to sell at $250 per tonne against the ruling international price of $300 per tonne. But, Sail has been offered special discount as they have paid higher price of $105 per tonne in 2007-08, against $97-98 per tonne they were supposed to pay," Bhattacharyya said on the sidelines of annual conference of National institute of Personnel Management.     

BCCL's normal supply of coking coal to Sail is 1.67 million tonne out of its total production of 2 million tonne. BCCL CMD A K Paul had earlier said agreement with Sail had expired on March 31, and now the company would re- negotiate the price with the steel behemoth at Rs 6,300 per tonne.    

In Indian currency, the present agreed price of USD 150 is somewhere around Rs 6000.     

BCCL would earn additional Rs 1,800 crore if the company realises the revised price to Rs 6,300 per tonne from Rs 4,500 per tonne sold during the previous fiscal.