Coal India, the world’s largest coal miner by output, will issue a short-term and a medium-term tender next week to import coal for utilities, two senior officials at the company said, as shortages raise concerns about renewed power outages.
The state-run miner, which has little experience in importing coal, was asked to place orders for shipments from overseas by the power ministry last week as utilities suggested multiple tenders would lead to confusion and sought centralised procurement through Coal India.
Officials are rushing to make more coal available for utilities as shortages in the July-September quarter are expected to be 15% wider than intitially estimated due to expectations of higher power demand.
