The Hindu : Business : E-commerce forum for coal launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 17, 2005

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Business

E-commerce forum for coal launched

Special Correspondent

Report on roadmap for Coal India shortly

COAL THROUGH CYBERSPACE: The Managing Director and CEO of Metal Junction, Viresh Oberoi (left), addressing the media during the launch of Coal Junction, an e-selling portal for coal, in Kolkata on Monday. The Secretary-Coal, P. C. Parakh (center), and the Chairman and Managing Director, BCCL, P. S. Bhattacharya, are also seen. — Photo: Parth Sanyal

KOLKATA: The high-power Shankar Committee, set up for restructuring Coal India Ltd. and recommending a roadmap for the Indian coal sector, will submit its first report by end-June and the final report two months later, the Union Coal secretary, P. C. Parakh, said.

Talking to the press after the launch of an e-commerce forum for coal on Monday, he said the Coal Ministry had set up the committee in January for a comprehensive review of the sector with specific reference to bridging the demand-supply gap, improving man and machinery productivity and restructuring the CIL. The terms of reference included examining the merits of opening up coal trading and reviewing the present policy on captive coal mining.

Mr. Parakh said transition towards market-driven coal prices had begun with the launch of coaljunction.com. "This is the first step in graduating from merely distributing coal to marketing coal,'' he said.

Beginning with a targeted e-sale of ten million tonnes of coal this fiscal, plans were afoot to put about 20 per cent of CIL's present production of about 360 million tonnes under the spot purchase route through e-sales. Besides moving towards market driven prices this marked a shift towards disintermediation.

Mr. Parakh said the Ministry was open to foreign investment in the mining sector and was in the process of developing notice-inviting-tenders to this effect. He said 95 per cent of the country's coal demand was being met now and the demand-supply gap would be narrowed by the Eleventh Plan.

Viresh Oberoi, Managing Director of metaljunction services ltd (an equal joint venture of SAIL and Tata Steel) said the company had increased the transaction value to Rs. 4,051 crores in 2004-05 through e-sales of steel, BPO and assets. It was eyeing sales of Rs. 8,000 crores this fiscal.

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