Coal India Ltd (CIL) is set to take a re-look at prices to check whether prices in certain bands have increased heavily following the recent roll out of the gross calorific value (GCV) system for coal pricing.
CIL changed to this new mechanism from the existing useful heat value (UHV) system from January 1, amid protests from user-segments which said that the conversion was hasty and had led to abnormal increases in prices of as much as 150 per cent in coal produced by some of the collieries. The Coal Consumers Association of India had sought a postponement of the GCV-based price notification in order to rationalise the pricing. In the wake of this, a meeting was held in New Delhi to address the issue. At the meeting, CIL was “advised to take a re-look at prices to find whether in some cases there has been jump in prices.”
CIL Chairman N. C. Jha told this correspondent that the matter would now be placed before the company board and the price adjustment, if any, will take place after the board approval. He reiterated that GCV would remain the basis for computing coal prices.