State-owned coal mining and refining company, Coal India Limited (CIL), announced on Tuesday that it held three pre-bid meetings on the June 14 and 17 with potential coal importing agencies who expressed interest in participating in the three international competitive bidding e-tenders for the import of coal that the company had floated earlier in the month. The company had issued e-tenders for the foreign procurement of coal in accordance with government directives.
The meetings were held to help bidders interested in participating in the process in gaining a better understanding of the bid document, the scope of work, and its finer points. A total of 11 coal importers attended the meeting with CIL officials.
Adani Enterprises Limited, Mohit Minerals, and Chettinad Logistics Private Limited were among some of the known Indian firms in attendance. A few foreign coal exporting organisations, notably one from Indonesia, had expressed interest. A few international coal exporting companies, including one from Indonesia, have also reportedly expressed interest.
In the meetings, the prospective bidders proposed a few important changes to the tender, such as reducing the bid price validity period from 90 days to 60 days and setting a time frame of 4 to 6 weeks for the provision of the first tranche of cargo, starting from the date of the letter of award. Previously, the supply plan was predicated on a particular percentage of delivery in each month of the second quarter of FY'23.
CIL amended the bid document in response to their requests, and a corrigendum has already been posted by the company on the e-procurement platform to ensure that the bidding process runs smoothly. Coal quantity assessment and quality testing will have to be done by CIL's empanelled third-party sample organisations for coal that settles on Indian coasts.
CIL has previously issued a short-term indent-based international competitive bid for 2.416 million tonnes (MTs) of coal to be blended with domestic coal by State gencos and Independent Power Plants (lPPs). Following that, two further medium-term bids were issued, each for 3 MT, to assure coal supply for current and future demand from the country's western and eastern ports.
The company set the deadline for short-term bids as June 29, and the deadline for medium-term bids as July 5.
Also read: Tata Steel imported 75,000 tonnes of Russian coal amid Ukraine war
Also read: ONGC seeks minimum $17 price for Bokaro coal gas in Jharkhand