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CCI report : Coal India's fuel pact with sponge iron makers 'one-sided'

Coal India's fuel pact with sponge iron makers is skewed in the staterun miner's favour, the fair trade regulator has observed in its probe into allegations that the miner misused its market monopoly to dictate the terms.

The probe was ordered in July last year on a complaint filed by the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (SIMA) that Coal India's fuel-supply agreement (FSA) is "one-sided" and that the miner has insisted on consumers signing a separate memorandum of understanding that allows it to supply less than the contracted volume. "The investigation has shown that CIL, by virtue of its dominance and on account of lack of competitive process in the relevant market, has not tried to evolve or finalise the terms and conditions of the FSA by way of mutual or bilateral process," says the report being filed by the director-general of investigation at the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Source-On Request