New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal has extended the last date for the submission of Request for Qualification (RfQ) for empanelment of Third-Party Agencies (TPAs) for coal sampling until November 30, an official notification dated November 8 said. In an action plan released earlier in May this year, the Ministry of Coal had placed a lot of emphasis on having third-party conduct quality checks for coal produced by coal companies, which has been a long-standing demand from both power and non-power consumers of coal.
"The Ministry of Coal has extended the date for submitting the Request for Qualification (RFQ) for empanelment of Third-Party Testing Agencies... till 17:00 Hrs , 30th November 2023," the coal ministry said in a statement.
The TPAs will be responsible for collection of samples at loading end of the coal companies, preparation of laboratory samples, testing and analysis of prepared samples in NABL-accredited laboratories and the preparation of test report for samples and associated documentation.
The Coal Controller's Organisation (CCO), a key subordinate office under the Ministry of Coal, oversees the grading of coal, lignite seams, mines, quality surveillance and other responsibilities.
Now all the consumers of Coal India Ltd (CIL) have the option for quality assessment of the supplies through independent third-party sampling agencies. These accredited third-party agencies have been engaged to ascertain coal quality from loaded coal wagons, lorries as per prescribed norms. CIL accounts for over 80 percent of domestic coal output.