Coal India Limited allows neighbouring countries to directly participate in auctions

The development comes after CIL had earlier conducted dialogues with the prospective coal consumers from abroad to categorise the enabling clauses and gauge their need for coal.

Coal India Limited allows neighbouring countries to directly participate in auctions

Representational Image (IANS)

In a move to boost the export of coal to overseas, Coal India Limited (CIL) on Friday announced that coal consumers in the neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, who wish to import coal from India, can directly participate in the Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) auctions conducted by the company.

The development comes after CIL had earlier conducted dialogues with the prospective coal consumers from abroad to categorise the enabling clauses and gauge their need for coal.

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In an exchange filing, the company said the revised framework will be effective from 1 January, as CIL’s board cleared the decks recently, tweaking the scheme’s mechanism in the SWMA auction.

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Earlier, access to CIL’s coal by coal consumers across the borders was only through domestic coal traders who were allowed to buy and sell coal without any end-use restrictions.

Notably, the payment process would be transparent as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) rules.

Buyers from Nepal can make the payments in INR as well as US Dollars while the buyers from the other two countries are required to make their payment in US Dollars, the valuation of which would be in INR.

Key provisions for foreign buyers include one-time registration, participation through digital bidding, advance electronic payments, and export through notified logistics channels.

After the announcement, shares of Coal India Ltd gained as much as 7 per cent.

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