State-owned Coal India Ltd plans to offer 25.62 million tonnes of coal through online auction in the current month, a move expected to mitigate the impact of energy supply shocks on industries amid the West Asia crisis. The disruptions in LNG, LPG and crude oil supplies from the Middle East have increased demand for coal, driving up its import prices.
Coal India had offered 32.532 million tonnes of coal through e-auction in March against 20.5 million tonnes in February this year.
The state-run coal producer plans to offer coal through the Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) auction. SWMA auction is a unified, simplified e-auction system launched in 2022 to consolidate multiple existing auction windows (Spot, Special Spot, Forward) into a single platform, making coal procurement easier, more transparent, and market-driven for all buyers.
According to Coal India Ltd's SWMA auction calender, Coal India subsidiary Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) plans to put on offer 2 million tonnes (MT), South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) 3 MT, Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) 3.2 MT, Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) 0.6 MT, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) 3.8 MT, Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) 4.7 MT, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) 8.5 MT and North Eastern Coalfield (NEC) 0.02 MT.
Coal India Ltd accounts for over 80% of domestic coal production.
State-owned CIL had earlier said buyers from neighbouring nations Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal can now join its online coal auctions directly, skipping the Indian middlemen.
The move, the company had said, will help utilise surplus coal resources more effectively and promote transparency.
Earlier, consumers across borders had access to Coal India Ltd's dry fuel only through domestic coal traders, who were allowed to buy and sell without any end-use restrictions.
"In a first, effective January 1, 2026, CIL has permitted coal consumers located in the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, who wish to import coal from India, to directly participate in the Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) auctions conducted by the company," CIL had said.
The CIL board had cleared the decks for this move, tweaking the scheme's mechanism in the SWMA auction.
"Opening SWMA e-auctions to foreign buyers reflects CIL's calibrated approach to market expansion while fully safeguarding domestic coal requirements. This step enhances transparency, competition and global market integration," a senior company official had said.
Earlier, CIL held dialogues with prospective overseas coal consumers to frame enabling clauses and assess their requirements.
CIL's production dropped by 1.7% to 768.1 million tonnes in the just-concluded FY26. The company produced 781.1 million tonnes (MT) in FY25. According to provisional data from Coal India Ltd (CIL), output in March fell to 84.5 MT from 85.8 MT in the year-ago period.
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