NEW DELHI, May 3 (UPI) -- India says it may scrap a plan to fix coal prices on gross calorific value following pressure from the power sector.
The Indian Coal Ministry directed state-run Coal India Ltd. to revise coal prices on the useful heat value platform basis instead of GCV pattern.
"GCV is globally accepted as a basis for pricing of coal, but Indian power sector is opposed to it," said Partha Bhattacharya, CIL chairman.
India's power sector accounts for 75 percent of coal consumption and has pressured the Coal Ministry to ask the CIL to switch over to UHV, The Financial Express newspaper reported Thursday.
He said CIL has not revised the price of coal for a long time and is selling it at a price 7 to 8 percent lower than the actual value.
"The GCV would have given CIL a better price realization. We are contemplating sub-grading the coal within UHV basis, as the power sector is opposing it," Bhattacharya said.
CIL has to go for a better realization of coal prices in view of the more than $2 billion the coal giant has planned to invest to increase production.
