Coal India Ltd.

Coal India’s (CIL) board of directors will be meeting on Thursday to discuss controversial issue of signing fuel supply agreements (FSAs) on the direction of the PMO, as Wednesday's discussions on the issue remained inconclusive.  The Coal India previously held board meeting, remained inconclusive in the wake of its independent directors resenting a clause in the FSA for ensuring at least 80 per cent supply of the commitment to the power plants. 

Prime Minister's Office (PMO) last month directed CIL to ink FSAs with 80 per cent supply clause before March-end for power plants that have been commissioned on or before December 31, 2011. Amid power plants facing a supply crunch, the PMO stated that FSAs would be signed for full quantity of coal mentioned in the Letters of Assurance (LoAs) for a period of 20 years. Further, it had elaborated that if the supply remains below 80 per cent, then CIL would be penalised and would be provided incentive if it was found above 90 per cent.

In a separate development, as many as 180 proposals of CIL are awaiting forestry clearance from the Centre and the state governments.