Coal India lines up Rs 20,000 crore for expansion plans

Coal India lines up Rs 20,000 crore for expansion plans

December 24, 2007 Filed Under: Coal Mining  

PUBLIC SECTOR coal giant Coal India Limited (CIL) is foraying into the power generation space and plans to invest over Rs 20,000 crore for the development and acquisition of new and existing coal mines over the next 5 years.

CIL plans to ramp up coal production to a level of 521 million tonne by 2012 from the current level of 361 million tonne through a mix of re-development and acquisition initiatives in domestic and foreign locations, chairman and managing director Partha S. Bhattacharyya told Hindustan Times.

“We have identified about 118 new projects — 30 for underground mines and 88 for opencast mines — that would have an aggregate production capacity of about 267 million tonne per annum. The planned capital investment would be around Rs 21,880 crore,” Bhattacharyya said.

He said the company has identified several coal mines in Indonesia and Mozambique and is now exploring opportunities in Australia and Canada for acquiring coking coal mines. “We have floated a global tender for empanelling merchant and investment bankers, which would assisting CIL in the due diligence of overseas coal opportunities and assistance in acquisitions. Several opportunities have been identified in Indonesia for high-grade thermal coal,” he said.

The Centre had recently granted approval for forming a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for sourcing of coal from overseas sources. The SPV, would have an initial paid-up capital of Rs 3,500 crore with public sector steel, power and mineral giants, including Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), and NTPC, partnering CIL in the joint venture.

“CIL will contribute Rs1,000 crore in the SPV,” Bhattacharyya said. CIL’s is considering an entry into the power generation area as a joint-venture partner with power producing companies.

“Northern Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India, has made considerable progress in forming a joint venture with Neyveli Lignite Corporation for power generation,” he said, adding the idea of forming a joint venture with NTPC was also under active consideration by Mahanadi Coalfields.

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