The auction of coal linkages for sponge iron industry has been deferred and bidding for the sector will now be held next week.
"Based on the feedback received during the pre-bid meeting held on May 29, 2016, it is hereby notified that the time line for auction of linkage of sponge iron sector has been extended," Coal India (CIL) said in a notice.
"The auction shall commence on June 10, 2016 instead of May 31, 2016," it said adding that a detailed timeline will be published shortly. In the interim, registration of MSTC website will continue.
Coal India had earlier said it will conduct the auction of coal linkages for the sponge iron sector on May 31, -- the first sale of the dry fuel for non-regulated industries through bidding route.
The Coal Ministry has directed CIL to conduct auction of coal linkages for the non-regulated sectors such as cement, steel/sponge iron and aluminium with a view to ensuring fuel availability to end users.
Coal India had earlier said that the first sale of coal linkages would be conducted for the sponge iron sector.
The PSU had also organised a pre-bid meeting with sponge iron consumers with regard to auction of linkages for the sector to explain different features of the auction process.
CIL has decided to allocate a total quantity of around 23.25 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in the first tranche of coal linkage auction.
Auction of coal via linkage from Singareni Collieries Company will be done subsequently.
"The phase I of tranche 1 would be for 'Sponge Iron' sub-sector. Total quantity of approximately 2 MTPA has been allocated for sponge iron sub-sector under Phase I," the source had said.
The government had earlier said allocation of coal linkages for non-regulated sector industries will be only through the auction route to ensure transparency.
Sectors included are cement, steel/sponge iron, aluminium, and others (excluding fertiliser, urea).
The framework attempts to make coal available in a fair manner to end-users.
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