Coal India arm BCCL books 2.40 MT coking coal for steel sector

The government on Thursday said 2.40 million tonnes (MT) of coking coal have been booked of the 3.36 MT offered by Coal India arm Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) under auction mode for the steel sector for long-term linkages.

Coking coal is a key raw material that is used to manufacture steel through the blast furnace route.

"BCCL achieved record-breaking success in the recently concluded long-term linkage e-auction (tranche VII) for the steel sub-sector. Of the 3.36 MT of coking coal offered, 2.40 MT was successfully booked, setting a new benchmark in coal bookings," coal ministry said in a statement.

BCCL CMD Samiran Dutta said efforts to make the auction process more inclusive and transparent have paid off significantly.

The import of coking coal puts a burden on country's valuable foreign reserve, and to change this, BCCL has undertaken reforms to make its coking coal auction processes more flexible, transparent, and attractive for the country's steel producers, he said.  

The CIL arm reassessed its strategy and introduced consortium bidding, which allowed smaller consumers to collaborate and participate collectively in the auction, broadening the pool of bidders and making the process more accessible.

To attract more participants, BCCL proposed amendments to the eligibility norms for linkage auction bidders. The proposal was approved at the functional directors' meeting of BCCL and subsequently forwarded to CIL for further consideration.

Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of the country's domestic coal output.