Kolkata, April 27 (IANS) Coal India Limited (CIL) has received 27 proposals from 16 companies for getting imported coal at discounted prices, a top company official has said.

"We sought proposals from companies which are interested in supplying coal on a 10-year term basis at a discount price to meet the production-demand gap in India. We have received 27 proposals from 16 companies. Now the Request for Proposal (RFP) has been finalised," CIL chairman N.C. Jha told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here Tuesday.

"We will send the RFP to each of these companies and they have been advised to give in three weeks their proposals on quality and quantity of coal to be supplied. Once we receive that, we will finalise the contracts," he said.

Disclosing that about 70 million tonnes of stock had piled up due to transportation problems, Jha said the Indian Railways had agreed to help out by providing extra rakes.

"We have made a plan that this year will be observed as the year of coal offtake. There will be more thrust on reducing our coal stocks. Indian Railways has promised us in this regard for which we will require 191 rakes per day on the average whole year basis," he said.

When asked whether the 'Maharatna' status would help the company, the chairman said: "The status will help us. Earlier, we could invest Rs.1,000 crore for overseas acquisition, now we can spend Rs.5,000 crore. It's a good amount, particularly for overseas acquisitions and joint ventures."