With the government is expecting aggressive bids for all 46 coal blocks, whose reallocation will start on February 14, the cement sector is likely to have a calculative approach.
For coal block assigned to end-use power generation, there is likely to be aggressive bidding. However, for the block to be apportioned to the unregulated sector – steel, cement and captive power – the cement sector is likely to step carefully.
Market experts are of the opinion that in the past, the cement sector has received coal linkages with sub-standard coal grade. That necessitated a greater dependency on costly imported coal and coal procurement from the open market.