The Coal Consumers’ Association of India on Thursday demanded that there be uniformity in pricing of coal based on the gross calorific value (GCV). The Association has said that pricing of coal should be without any sectoral discrimination for the regulated and non-regulated sectors.
“We are not seeking a roll back of the GCV based pricing mechanism but there should be a uniformity in the pricing of coal across different sectors,” Mr. PK Chand, President, Coal Consumers’ Association of India said.
Coal India Ltd. had from January switched over to the GCV based method of pricing of coal. The new mechanism will replace the existing seven grades, each divided by a broad bandwidth of 600-1,100 kilo calorie (kcal) useful heat value (UHV), by large number of products of 300 kcal bandwidth each beginning 2,200 kcal to over 7,000 kcal. The new system (GCV based pricing) has done away with the anomalies in pricing of same grade coal produced by different collieries as well as subsidiaries
According to the Association, the bias in coal pricing between the regulated and non regulated sectors should be done away with. The unregulated sector, they claimed was the most affected following the hike in coal prices and this would lead to a slowing down of the economy.
However, according to the Association, before switching over to GCV, quality concerns need to be addressed. The Association has also sought that the embargo at joint sampling below four lakh tonnes be withdrawn by CIL. Joint sampling, they said, should be implemented at loading and unloading points.