State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) said on Friday that buyers from neighbouring nations Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal can now join its online coal auctions directly, skipping Indian middlemen. The move will help in utilising the surplus coal resources better and promote transparency.
Earlier, access to CIL’s dry fuel by consumers across the borders was only through domestic coal traders who were allowed to buy and sell without any end-use restrictions.
"In a first, effective January 1, 2026, CIL has permitted coal consumers located in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, who wish to import coal from India, to directly participate in the Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) auctions conducted by the company," CIL said in a statement.
SWMA auction is a unified, simplified e-auction system launched in 2022 to replace multiple existing auction windows (spot, special spot, forward) into one single platform, making coal procurement easier, transparent and market-driven for all buyers.
The CIL board has cleared the decks recently for this move, tweaking the scheme’s mechanism in the SWMA auction. "Opening SWMA e-auctions to foreign buyers reflects CIL’s calibrated approach to market expansion while fully safeguarding domestic coal requirements. This step enhances transparency, competition and global market integration," said a senior company official.
Under the revised framework, foreign buyers can now participate alongside domestic buyers in the SWMA auctions. All operational and procedural modalities have been incorporated in the updated scheme with key provisions for foreign buyers, including one-time registration, digital bidding, advanced electronic payments and exports through notified logistics channels.
The payment process will be transparent, as per Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules, with Nepal buyers allowed to pay in INR or US dollars, while those from the other two countries have to pay in US dollars, valued in INR.
Earlier, CIL had held dialogues with prospective overseas coal consumers to frame enabling clauses and assess their requirements.
Also read: PMO directs listing of all Coal India subsidiaries by 2030
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