Coal India, earlier this month, invited bids for three e-tenders in order to import coal. Now, at least 11 coal importers have expressed interest in bidding for these tenders. This includes a short-term indent-based international competitive bid for 2.416 million tonnes (MTs) of coal and two more medium-term tenders for sourcing 3 MT each. The companies include prominent Adani Enterprises, Chettinad Logistics and Mohit Minerals, as well as a couple of international export agencies. Coal India revealed this information in its regulatory filing on Tuesday.
The interest from companies was evident when Coal India held a pre-bid meeting with them from June 14 to June 19, where it explained the details in the tenders. The largest coal producer in the world detailed the finer points, the scope of work and also cleared any doubts among the potential bidders.
During these discussions, the companies requested amendments to the tenders. Coal India said that the companies wanted to shorten the time window of the bid price validity from 90 days to 60 days. Another change that the companies asked for was to fix the time period for the supply of the first shipment between 4 to 6 weeks after the date when the letter of award was given out. Coal India said that since these requests seemed reasonable, the tender had been amended accordingly.
The tender also says that Coal India, through its third-party sampling agencies, will conduct quantity and quality assessments of the shipments that are received on Indian shores.
The last date for short-term tender is set on June 29, while that for the medium-term is July 5.
