Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world's largest coal miner, has announced its plans to gradually limit e-auction volume to 49 million tonnes (MT), nearly 7 per cent of its production, over the coming 4-5 years.

S Narsing Rao, chairman of the state-owned mining giant, said, "E-auction sales would be gradually stabilised at 49 MT over the next four-five years."

Earlier this year, CIL was asked by the government decrease its e-auction volume or spot sales so that more coal supply could be ensured to power companies under FSAs (fuel supply agreements).

E-auction prices are normally 70 per cent to 80 per cent higher than the notified price of the fuel.

Therefore, any move to limit e-auction will definitely impact the company's financial health, unless production of coal goes up or the government allows it to increase notified prices.

In the last fiscal, the company produced 432 MT of coal. Around 11 per cent of that amount was sold via e-auction.

In the first half of current fiscal, CIL missed its production target faintly. It produced 191.57 MT of coal during the first six month of the fiscal year, down from its target of 198.74 MT.