Sector majors like Larsen & Toubro, GMMCO of CK Birla Group, public sector Heavy Engineering Corp and also overseas entities like Atlas Copco, Joy Global as well as BelAZ of Belarus are eyeing the multi-billion dollar pie of equipment contracts from Coal India, which plans to double its output and go for major modernisation of its mining techniques, sources told dna.
Coal India's move to almost double its output by 2020 has created a big opportunity for capital equipment makers, from both within and outside the country.
Sector majors like Larsen & Toubro, GMMCO of CK Birla Group, public sector Heavy Engineering Corp and also overseas entities like Atlas Copco, Joy Global as well as BelAZ of Belarus are eyeing the multi-billion dollar pie of equipment contracts from Coal India, which plans to double its output and go for major modernisation of its mining techniques, sources told dna.
Deploying latest mining technologies, switching over to full mechanisation, and partnering with foreign mine developers and operators having requisite experience and know-how in coal mining are some of the key strategies to touch the 1 billion tonne target by 2020, which is a part of its ambitious project 'Utkarsh'. Successful completion of this project would also require dependence on large-scale contract mining and strategies like upgrading the skills of employees.
Under this project, the near monopoly coal miner would be sourcing equipment like high-capacity excavators, operator independent truck dispatch systems, vehicle tracking system using GPS, laser scanners for monitoring, continuous miners on large-scale, long-wall technology at select places and also man-riding systems at major underground mines.
These equipment manufacturers have communicated their suggestions about Coal India's procurement policies, many of which have been rejected by an expert committee citing various reasons.
Larsen & Toubro suggested that orders should be distributed between the lowest and the second lowest bidder, and not just the lowest bidder only as such a measure will lead to faster delivery of the tendered equipment, thereby resulting in quicker ramp-up of production.
This suggestion has been rejected by Coal India officials on grounds that it might restrict competitive bidding. In any case, Coal India's tendering norm has an existing provision to distribute order quantity in case of capacity constraint of the L1 bidder, sources said.
Coal India has also rejected a suggestion from Gmmco to incorporate confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement signed between manufacturer and purchaser to protect any breach as some of the information sought by Coal India is confidential and proprietary to manufacturer.
This suggestion, too, has been rejected as it goes against Chief Vigilance Commission's effort to raise transparency in government procurement.
Another of GMMCO's suggestion – to include in Coal India tenders award merits for safety – has been accepted as world's top miners are seen as extremely safety conscious and have forced manufacturers to incorporate many safety features on their machines.
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