BENGALURU, January 2, 2026, 08:04 ET
- Coal India opens direct access to its online coal auctions for buyers in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal from Jan. 1
- Shares jump about 7% and touch a 52-week high
- Shift comes as domestic power-sector demand cools and India moves to export surplus coal
Coal India opened its online coal auctions to buyers from Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal on Friday, letting companies across the border bid directly for its coal. The state-run miner’s shares jumped to a 52-week high.
The change comes as demand from Indian power producers has softened, with coal-based generation down in seven of the past 12 months as renewable capacity expanded. Coal India’s supplies to consumers fell 2.2% in the April-to-December period from a year earlier, the company said. “This move should help Coal India boost margins,” said Rupesh Sankhe, a research analyst at Elara Securities. Reuters
The government approved exports of surplus coal from power plants in December, putting attention on cross-border sales. India exported about 1.54 million tonnes of coal in the year through November, mostly to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, according to data from coal trader I-Energy Natural Resources.
Coal India said the new policy, effective Jan. 1, allows overseas consumers in those three countries to participate in its online coal auctions without using Indian intermediaries.
The auctions are conducted on its Single Window Mode Agnostic platform, known as SWMA, which combines several coal auction types on one site. The system was introduced in 2022 to replace separate spot and forward auction windows.
Coal India’s board recently approved changes to the SWMA mechanism to allow foreign bids, it said. Foreign buyers will bid alongside domestic customers under the same rules.
Coal India said foreign buyers will register once, place bids digitally and make advance electronic payments before shipping coal through notified logistics channels. The company said it has held discussions with prospective overseas consumers to map requirements.
Payments will be processed under India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act, which sets rules for foreign-currency transactions. Nepal buyers can pay in rupees or U.S. dollars, while Bangladesh and Bhutan buyers will pay in dollars, the company said.
Coal India uses e-auctions—online bidding rounds—to sell coal that is not tied to long-term supply contracts. Prices often include an auction premium, meaning buyers pay above the miner’s set base price.
Those neighbouring countries have been buying Coal India coal through traders who bid domestically and resold the fuel abroad. Vasudev Pamnani, a director at I-Energy Natural Resources, said direct bidding is likely to replace that routed demand rather than add new volumes.
Pamnani also said inland logistics and port costs mean India will still struggle to match Indonesian coal into Bangladesh, where Indonesian suppliers benefit from lower costs and better infrastructure.
