New Delhi: State-owned Coal India (CIL) has received an order to import around 5 lakh tonnes of coal for the current fiscal, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
"During 2014-15, CIL has received a firm order for import supply to the tune of approximately 5 lakh tonnes. The supply is expected to be completed in the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal," Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
The Minister had in November said that India should not remain an importer of thermal coal for power plants but on the contrary should be in a position to supply to the world.
Goyal told the House that CIL has put in place a modality for importing coal through a PSU supply agency to the willing power plants.
"Under the provisions of new Fuel Supply Agreements, in accordance with the Presidential Directives issued to CIL, option is also given to Power Utility sector consumers to opt for supply of a part of the Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) from imported coal through CIL...", the minister said.
In the annual plan for the ongoing fiscal, Goyal said, the country's demand for coal for power utility sector has been assessed at 551.60 MT (million tonnes) against which supply of 466.89 MT has been planned from indigenous sources, leaving a gap of 84.71 MT which is envisaged to be met through coal imports.
