Coal India Ltd has rolled back
the price hike proposed under its new Gross Calorific Value-based pricing
mechanism effective January 1.
Coal India will delink the rates
from international parity prices, said Mr N. C. Jha, Chairman. This would
eventually reduce the prices for different grades of coal. However, the
GCV-based grading of coal will continue and the anomalies in the pricing
structure will be set right, he added.
Coal India switched to the
GCV-based pricing mechanism in line with the international norms and had
proposed an average of 12.5 per cent hike in prices.
This had evoked strong protest
from consumers in sectors such as power, cement, steel and aluminum. In the
earlier Useful Heat Value (UHV) method, the pricing was decided on the ash and
the moisture content in coal.
“The new pricing will be revenue
neutral for the company,” said the Union Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal.
The new pricing mechanism will be reviewed early next financial year after
assessing the performance of Coal India in the January-March quarter, Mr
Jaiswal said.
The company has set a production
target of 464 million tonnes for 2012-13.
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