RHP Reddit Mentions | ChartExchange

**Public-source BCCL / BHARATCOAL investor update**
A *Prabhat Khabar* report today caught my attention, but the more important point is that its headline number is directly confirmed by **Coal India’s NSE filing**.
During **Apr-Aug FY27**, BCCL offered **75.57 lakh tonnes** under SWMA e-auction but only **12.19 lakh tonnes was allocated — 16%**.
Coal India overall: **37%**.
This does not look like a single weak auction:
BCCL allocation CIL allocation
FY24-25. 32% 63%
FY25-26. 17% 46%
Apr-Aug FY27 16% 37%
So I think the shareholder question is no longer simply “was August weak?” It is:
**Why has BCCL’s offered coal repeatedly converted into allocations at a much lower rate than CIL overall?**
The CIL filing gives the numbers but **does not explain the cause**.
*Prabhat Khabar*, on 29 September, reports that auction buyers look beyond the quoted coal price and consider **quality/grade, suitability for their industry, delivery distance and transportation cost**, as well as alternatives available from other producers. The report also cautions against interpreting low allocation simply as low coal demand.
That is worth reading alongside a risk already disclosed around BCCL’s IPO: its RHP identified **import-price competition and comparatively higher ash content/coal quality** as risks which can influence whether customers prefer domestic BCCL coal or imported alternatives.
**Why this matters financially**
BCCL’s Q1 FY27 numbers already showed a difficult operating equation:
**Production:** 9.04 → **6.56 MT (-27.4%)**
**Offtake:** 8.98 → **7.72 MT (-14.0%)**
**Revenue:** ₹3,719.59 cr → **₹3,587.27 cr (-3.6%)**
**EBITDA:** ₹373.28 cr → **₹71.50 cr (-80.8%)**
**PAT:** \+₹176.87 cr → **-₹68.09 cr**
**Sales/tonne:** ₹3,256 → **₹3,243 (-0.4%)**
**Cost/tonne:** ₹2,976 → **₹3,375 (+13.4%)**
**Profit/tonne:** \+₹280 → **-₹132**
That is why auction conversion matters to me as an investor.
When **cost/tonne rises 13.4% while sales realisation/tonne is basically flat**, the ability to place discretionary coal through better-paying channels and extract auction premiums becomes increasingly relevant to margin recovery.
There is another interesting datapoint: BCCL’s Q1 W-V grade e-auction volume rose from **0.16 MT to 0.60 MT**, but average realisation fell from **₹4,431/t to ₹3,597/t — roughly 18.8% lower**.
So this is not just a volume question. It is a **volume + quality + delivered-cost + realisation/tonne** question.
**One development I would watch closely**
On **26 September**, BCCL’s board approved offering **Washed MCC and PCC** from its washeries through the CIL e-auction scheme at **5% above Import Parity Price**, without an upper cap, for up to **18 rakes in Q3/Q4 FY27**, or until its IPP negotiations with SAIL conclude.
The filing does **not** say this is a response to the 16% allocation rate, so I would not claim that.
But for investors, it creates a very useful test:
**Does selling a more steel-appropriate washed product against an import-parity benchmark actually improve bidder participation, realised ₹/tonne and the steel-sector sales mix?**
**Important counterpoint**
I would also **not** call the 63.38 lakh tonnes that was unallocated “lost sales”.
BCCL’s raw-coal inventory actually fell from **9.41 MT at March-end to 7.97 MT at June-end**, with stock days improving from **104 to 94**. Unallocated auction coal can be reoffered or monetised through other routes.
Receivables also improved from **₹2,863 crore at March-end to ₹2,500 crore at June-end**.
So the issue is not “16% allocation = 84% revenue lost.” That would be misleading.
The issue is whether BCCL has a **recurring disadvantage in converting offered auction coal into attractive realised sales**, and whether the reasons are grade/quality, freight economics, customer/end-use suitability, pricing, logistics—or some combination.
**What I would like BCCL to quantify**
1. Offered vs allocated vs actually lifted quantity **grade-wise and mode-wise**.
2. Average notified price versus realised price per tonne.
3. How much unallocated auction quantity is subsequently sold through FSA/other channels or reoffered.
4. Whether freight/distance or quality specifications are materially limiting bidder participation.
5. Whether the new **IPP +5% washed-coal auction** improves allocation and realisation.
6. Resulting effect, if any, on revenue/tonne, EBITDA/tonne, inventory and cash conversion.
For me, the number to follow over the next few CIL disclosures is not simply coal offered. It is:
**allocation % × realised ₹/tonne × actual lifting.**
**Sources:**
Coal India Ltd Regulation 30 SWMA e-auction filing, 1 Sep 2026: ⁠
Coal India FY25-26 SWMA filing. ⁠
BCCL Q1 FY27 investor presentation filed with NSE. ⁠
Ministry of Coal FY24-25 e-auction statistics. ⁠
BCCL board outcome dated 26 Sep 2026. ⁠
BCCL RHP risk-factor context. ⁠
*Prabhat Khabar*, Dhanbad, 29 Sep 2026 — attached clipping.
**Not investment advice. This is a public-source update for discussion among shareholders and market participants. I am not treating the newspaper’s explanation as an independent finding, and I am not recommending any buy/sell/hold decision. Corrections, grade-wise data or additional exchange filings are welcome.**