KOLKATA | May 27, 2016: Coal India (CIL) intends to export coal and is in talks with power companies in Bangladesh for striking supply deals. This is for the first time CIL would be exporting the fossil fuel on a commercial basis.

Coal India subsidiaries — Bharat Coking Coal and North Eastern Coalfields — plan to supply coal to Bangladesh power companies. Coal is likely to be transported to Haldia port in West Bengal from where it could be forwarded through sea route to ports in Bangladesh.

"CIL's coal is likely to be cheaper than the ones supplied from Indonesia because we would save on logistics. The coal produced by these two subsidiaries are of high quality that can compete with Indonesian coal," a Coal India official said.

At present, power companies in the country are full-tobrim with 22 days of fossil fuel stocked and are going slow on fresh procurement. Having grown at around 10% last year, Coal India is saddled with some 55 million tonnes of pithead stock.

"Coal India could not afford to export coal till last year because the fossil fuel was in short supply. The scenario changed when the company managed to pull up production at a considerable pace.

Surplus stock at pitheads and slow lifting by power companies have prompted us to explore the international market . We have sent a team of senior officials from Coal India. They are in talks with power companies in Bangladesh," the official said.

(Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)