Coal India To Revamp E-Auction Norms To Meet Rising Demand

Coal India Ltd. plans to streamline its e-auction norms to meet local coal demand effectively. In an effort to encourage greater participation, the company will reduce the earnest money deposit in e-auctions from Rs 500 per tonne to Rs 150 per tonne, thereby freeing up consumers' capital, as per an exchange filing on Friday.

The move aims to facilitate increased auction involvement with existing capital resources. Additionally, CIL is considering implementing a three-hour auction window to replace the current lengthy process.

Presently, the company operates a single-window, agnostic e-auction scheme, allowing consumers to choose their preferred mode of coal transport.

A concept note, circulated to e-auction bidders on July 11, seeks feedback on proposed changes, including allowing consumers to switch transport modes post-bidding without extra costs and permitting a single bidder to place up to four bids per basket, as compared to the previous limit of one.

Despite already increasing coal supplies, evidenced by a rise in daily rake loading from CIL's sidings to 316.7 per day this fiscal, up from 40 rakes per day year-on-year, the company aims to further address any latent demand.

The Coal India stock fell as much as 1.71% during the day to Rs 497.2 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 0.29% lower at Rs 498.6 apiece, as compared to a 1.01% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 2:16 p.m.

It has risen 112% in the last 12 months and 32% on a year-to-date basis. The relative strength index was 61.

Nineteen out of the 25 analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock; three recommend a 'hold' and three suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential downside of 1.2%.