Coal India plans to tap consumers who are importing coal through a separate e-auction in a bid to push its offtake and cut down on the import of the fuel.

Coal imports comprising coking coal and non-coking coal stood at 248.55 million tonnes in 2019-20 and are on an uptrend since 2017-18, according to government data.

The miner is redrawing its marketing strategy and this additional e-auction route is part of that strategy.

Any Indian buyer, including traders, who imported coal at any point of time in the ongoing fiscal and or any of the previous two financial years are eligible for participating in this new version of e-auction. The minimum bid quantity is pegged at 25,000 tonnes for road transportation. For rail transportation it is twice the quantity at 50,000 tonnes, equivalent to 12 rakes.