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Coal India may delay the award of contracts for development and operation of 27 mines to end of the April-June quarter of 2013-14.
The company had intended to appoint mine developers and operators (MDOs) by March 31, 2013, to augment production by nearly 136 million tonnes a year. The projects on offer include 15 opencast and 12 underground assets.
Changes in bid format
The delay is because of the attempt to upgrade the bid documents to ensure participation of major players, especially the foreign miners.
“We have already invited expression of interests from for miners for appointment of MDOs. However, following a recent pre-bid meeting we decided to incorporate some changes in the draft bid document. This will take a couple of months to complete. Accordingly, we now expect to complete award of contracts by mid-2013,” a CIL source told Business Line .
Sources said that the changes to be incorporated were mostly on the eligibility front. “For example, we may allow contractors to claim payment in dollar terms to help them mitigate the exchange fluctuation risk,” an official said.
CIL had previously appointed two MDOs on the condition that securing all regulatory clearances would be the coal major’s job and the contractor would be responsible for asset development and production.
While the broad outline should remain intact in forthcoming contracts, discussions are now on to further fine-tune the contractors’ obligations to ensure faster project implementation.
CIL has reportedly sought the help of as expert group in the Planning Commission — with expertise in drafting bid documents in PPP (public-private-partnerships) in major infrastructure projects including metro rail — to attract global miners into asset development.
Fair competition
According to sources, at least two Australian companies — Thiess and Leighton — have expressed interest in the project.
“Our aim is to attract competent players, both from India and abroad, while ensuring fair competition. We hope to award at least a couple of major opencast projects through this route by the middle of next year (2013),” a CIL source said.
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