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Coal trade logs on to e-marketplace

By Rajesh Kumar, Section Computer Gupshup
Posted on Mon May 16, 2005 at 10:35:33 PM EST

KOLKATA: In a move with far-reaching implications in deregulating the coal industry, Union Coal and Mines Secretary P.C. Parakh on Monday launched an e-auction platform for selling coal online.

The launch of www.coaljunction.com, the latest e-platform of www.metaljunction.com, a 50:50 joint venture of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Tata Steel, is expected to witness migration of coal sale towards market-determined prices against the prevalent administered prices and to stop black marketing.

"The launch of e-auction is a giant step in bringing transparency and we would move out of the mindset of operating in a seller's market. We want to sell 15 to 20 percent of our coal through coaljunction.com," said Parakh, launching the e-auction site.

India's annual coal production is 360 million tonnes, which is short of the annual demand by 34 million tons.

"We want a system in which coal trade will be determined by demand and supply parameters. coaljunction.com may be a step towards that. It will slowly do away with the existing undesirable influence of the coal mafia and ensure a better quality of production," Parakh said.

"Our ultimate aim is to make the consumer happy and go for direct marketing. Small consumers can now negotiate directly. We hope to get the feedback of the buyers and end users of coal," he said.

The site is also expected to usher in free coal sales from the erstwhile "quota" or "linkages" regime benefiting the country's premier coal undertaking Coal India Limited (CIL) and the coal supply chain.

"coaljunction.com is now focusing on sale of coal by CIL subsidiaries. We will think of tapping the import market later," said metaljunction.com managing director Viresh Oberoi.

The site would also meet the finance and logistics requirements of buyers.

With the deregulation of coal sector since January 2000, the need to expedite development of new and better mechanisms for sale of coal sans black marketing was being explored.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1112358.cms

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