Coal India looks at mines in Mozambique, Indonesia; invites EoIs for reviving old mines

06 August 2008

Public sector Coal India Ltd (CIL) is looking at exploration opportunities in countries like Mozambique and Indonesia through its associate company Coal Videsh, a subsidiary formed this year specifically for acquiring coal mines outside the country.

''We are taking two separate routes for our international ventures to bridge the demand-supply gap in the domestic market. One is the government-to-government route and the other the merchant-banking route. We have identified virgin blocks of coal in Mozambique, from which we propose to develop thermal coal. For Indonesia, we have empanelled about 10 merchant bankers,'' Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya, chairman CIL, said.

CIL, he said, has identified three blocks in Mozambique and is also planning to go to South Africa and Malawi, all in government-to-government ventures. The company is sending a team to Mozambique in August to accelerate the process, he said, adding, the coal available in Mozambique is mostly thermal, besides some coking variety.

''We will acquire coal property abroad through International Coal Ventures Limited (IVCL), a special purpose vehicle formed with other leading state-owned companies to acquire coal assets overseas," Bhattacharyya said.

CIL, meanwhile, is floating global tenders to revive 18 abandoned mines in Jharkhand and West Bengal – against the 26 proposed earlier - in joint ventures with private entities. As per earlier estimate of the 26 mines, 10 had coking coal, while 16 had non-coking coal. 

''These mines have a reserve of about 800 million tonnes of thermal and coking coal," Bhattacharya said, adding, these mines are located at Bharat Coking Coal, Eastern Coalfields and Central Coalfields.