Coal India could see better e-auction volumes in the second half of 2022-23.

The public sector miner has supplied a total of around 30 million tonnes (mt) through the e-auction route in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal and another 50 mt could be offered in the second half of the financial year. This bodes well for the non-power consumers for whom the availability of coal has been a cause for concern.

“I won’t be able to commit anything but in the next two quarters, it will be more than what we have done in the first two quarters,” Coal India chairman Pramod Agrawal said on the sidelines of a CII-organised global mining summit in Calcutta.

E-auction is a significant topline driver for Coal India and the average realisations through the e-auction route have shot up drastically in the last two quarters. Moreover, there are already early trends of e-auction volumes going up in the third quarter, prompting market analysts to remain optimistic about the FY23 estimates for the company.