Coal allocation by CIL to power sector under e-auction drops 23% to 16.95 million tonnes in April-November

New Delhi: State-owned Coal India allocated 16.95 million tonnes (MT) of the dry fuel under special forward e-auction to the power sector in the April-November period of this fiscal, down 22.6 percent over the year-ago period. Coal India (CIL) had allocated 21.91 million tonnes (MT) of coal in the April-November period of 2018-19, according to the latest monthly summary by the coal ministry for the Cabinet. However, the coal allocation by the PSU under the scheme increased to 4.05 MT in November, 2019, over 1.53 MT in November 2018, it said. [caption id=“attachment_2526490” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The special forward e-auction scheme is aimed at making an earmarked quantity of coal available for supply through e-auction to all power producers. All power producers, other than captive power plants already commissioned, are eligible to apply for the special forward e-auction. CIL had earlier said that it intends to tentatively offer 10 percent of its targeted production of 660 MT in 2019-20 through e-auction and out of which 50 percent of the quantity (33 MT) is planned through special forward e-auction. Coal India accounts for over 80 percent of domestic coal output. The state-owned firm had earlier said that it will produce 750 million tonnes of coal in the next financial year. The firm will further produce 1 billion tonnes of coal by FY2024, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi had earlier said.