Mittal eyes India's mining sector, proposes joint venture with Coal India

24 March 2008

Mumbai: ArcelorMittal chief Lakshmi Mittal is keen on entering the coal mining sector in India which is now gradually opening up.

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, is seeking a joint venture with Coal India Ltd. for reviving some of the old and abandoned mines of the state-owned company as also tap new ones. CIL produces over 84 per cent of the country's coal.

The group is believed to have sent a letter to the union coal minister stating its intent on tying up with CIL. Mittal had also recently visited West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and expressed his desire to invest in the state.

The steel giant said it would bring in new technology that can help resume production safely so that substantial leftovers from mines can be extracted from mines abandoned by Coal India.

At the same time, the company also wants to invest in new mines in a joint venture with Coal India, reports said.

The research and development apex committee of CIL is learnt to have discussed the issue of abandoned mines at a meeting held at the corporate headquarters earlier this week. CIL has also launched a fact-finding mission to assess the number of such mines under CIL, sources said.