Coal India E-auction revenue falls Rs 5,589cr

Kolkata: Coal India reported average realisation from e-auction fell by seven per cent in the first quarter ended June 2024 to Rs 5,589 crore, compared to Rs 6,023 crore registered in the corresponding quarter of last year, due to lower auction prices. The decline in revenue occurred despite a nearly 37 per cent increase in e-auction volume to 23.18 million tonnes during Q1FY’25. In the same quarter last year, sales in this category were 16.10 million tonnes. E-auction volume and realisation price are key drivers of profitability for the miner. The company commanded an average e-auction rate of Rs 2,411 per tonne, a sharp decline of about 35 per cent from April-June 2023, when it was Rs 3,740 per tonne. An analyst said in the April-June period of 2023, the demand had exceeded supply from the power sector due to high electricity demand and strong global prices for the dry fuel led to better prices from the e-auction for Coal India in the. The average realisation also slipped on Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) coal to Rs 1,524 per tonne during the quarter, against Rs 1,536 per tonne in the same period last year. Majority of the FSA coal is supplied to the power sector at an affordable price under long-term fuel supply agreements. Over 85 per cent of the coal goes through the FSA sales route. Meanwhile, Coal India reported a 4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 10,943 crore for the first quarter ended June 2024 against Rs 10,498 crore in the year-ago period.