KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – Coal major Coal India Limited (CIL) has firmed-up plans to float its maiden import tender for an initial shipment of five-million tonnes during the current year.

At a meeting to finalise plans for its first import shipment, CIL estimated that current import requirement was around eight-million tonnes to fulfill its fuel supply agreements with various thermal power plants, with the shipments likely to be canalised through government-owned trading firms like MMTC Limited or State Trading Corporation, a CIL official said without giving any date for issue of the global tender notice.

Last week, CIL convened a meeting of various government agencies and government-owned coal consuming companies to discuss and plan a coal import schedule based on immediate requirement of thermal power plants facing shortages of feedstock, the official said.

Under fuel supply agreements (FSAs) signed with various thermal power generating companies, CIL’s mandatory commitment for supply of coal had recently been reduced from 80% of contracted supplies to 65% of the contract and 15% of supplies through imports.

In its discussions with consumers, the coal miner has estimated that as per current demand, immediate import requirement would be around eight-million tonnes and first shipment quantity had been pegged on this basis. However, CIL has finalised the import modalities and would be ready for larger import shipments later in the year, based on revised demand trends, the official said.

The miner has concluded 82 FSAs for coal supply to power stations with aggregate generating capacity of 34 793MW including 16 power plants of NTPC Limited, the country’s largest power utility.

During April-July 2013/14, CIL has missed its sales target by 3.4-million tonnes and 500 000 t of its production target producing 135.67-million and selling 153.35-million tonnes (inclusive from stocks) during the period.