India's Coal Sector

[SSCaddict]

Govt to ask Tata Steel, NTPC and others on coal mine delays

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) The government today said it is issuing showcause notices to Tata Steel, NTPC, ArcelorMittal and 78 others to explain why their coal blocks should not be withdrawn for their failure to develop these within the stipulated timeframe. "We are in the process of issuing showcause notices to companies sitting on captive coal and lignite reserves for years. After reviewing their responses, we will decide on deallocation of the blocks," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told PTI. The other companies which are being issued showcause notices include Congress MP Navin Jindal-led Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Vedanta Group firm Sterlite Industries, Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel and GMR Energy. In July, the ministry had convened a review meeting with the concerned companies, who have been allocated a total of 207 coal blocks for captive use under power, cement and steel projects. "We want to enhance the coal production of the country.For this, we can snatch the coal blocks back," Jaiswal added.India produced about 532 million tonnes of coal in 2009-10 and aims to cross the 600 million tonnes mark in 2010-11. However, the demand-supply gap is likely to be in the range of 80 million tonnes. The gap is expanding rapidly, he said. Sources in the ministry said that showcause notices for deallocation have already been issued to companies like ArcelorMittal, NTPC, Jindal Steel and Power, Tata Steel and NTPC, among others. "Out of 96 coal blocks allocated to PSUs, only 12 are in production. We are issuing showcause notices on 45 coal blocks. Also, out of 99 coal blocks allocated to private companies for captive use, 14 are in production. We are in the process of issuing notices on 48 blocks," a senior government official added. Besides showcause notices, the government is also issuing advisories to companies developing 23 coal blocks to either make progress or risk deallocation. "Out of these 23 blocks, seven blocks are the ones allocated for Ultra-Mega Power Projects," the official added. Sources said that NTPC could be issued showcause notices for its failure to develop five coal blocks allocated to it as early as 2004. "ArcelorMittal India Ltd and GCK Powers have been allocated the Seregarha coal block in Jharkhand. Also, it (ArcelorMittal) has been allocated the Rampia coal block along with five other companies in Jharkhand. It also faces the threat of deallocation," it said. Similarly, the government is issuing such notices to four lignite blocks, including DCM Shriram and Binani Cement, which were allocated lignite blocks for captive use in 2007. In the previous such drive, the government had deallocated 11 coal blocks. Jaiswal had earlier said the government would strive to weed out non-serious players from the business.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfee...ys/303584.html

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Coal India begins mother of all rehabilitation plans

Even as corporate India struggles to find a solution to relief and rehabilitation in issues related to land acquisition, the government-owned Coal India Ltd has begun a massive plan to rehabilitate 80,000 families in Jharia in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district to secure around 13 billion tonnes of high grade coal lying beneath the town.

more@http://www.hindustantimes.com/Coal-I...e1-594391.aspx

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Scramble for coal reaches Indonesia

The battle for resources between India and China has arrived in Indonesia, where Asia’s emerging giants are scrambling to secure the vast supplies of thermal coal needed to fire their electricity plants and power economic expansion.

But a shortage of attractive, large-scale producers for sale and restrictive business conditions are driving fierce competition for assets in the world’s leading exporter of the commodity.

Adani Group, the Indian conglomerate, said in August it was investing $1.6bn to build a railway line and coal terminal in remote Sumatra. That deal, which trumped an earlier Chinese bid, will increase Adani’s Indonesian supplies, although it did not say by how much.

India’s state-controlled power generator, NTPC, the country’s largest power producer, also said it aimed to acquire stakes in two, as yet unnamed, Indonesian coal mines

for more http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/986dbd40-b...44feab49a.html

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India Coal Imports

Indian companies have been looking at overseas coal sources as the country's coal demand is expected to touch 730 million tons by 2011-12, while domestic supply is estimated at only 520 million tons, leaving a shortfall of over 200 million tons. A recent KPMG report predicts India's coal shortage, at nearly 190 million tons a year by 2015, could have an impact on 50 percent of the power sector's demand and result in a two-fold increase in imports.

New Delhi has set a target to generate 78,000 MW in new capacity in the 11th five year plan (2007-2012) and another 100,000 MW in the 12th FYP till 2017 to tide over power deficits

CIL Looks Overseas

Although state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has done well to raise domestic coal output, it is not been enough to meet rising demand. India imports bulk of its coal from Indonesia and the rest from South Africa. The largest producer of coal in the world, CIL has floated a tender to import 6 million tons, the company's first import tender since its inception in 1975.

CIL, which produces 80 percent of India's domestic coal, has set aside US$2 billion for such investments. The company expects to import 50 million tons in the next few years
Domestically, CIL is demarcating as coalfields forest land that is actually nothing more than shrubs. CIL, which expects to go public with an estimated Rs150 billion offering in October, has identified nearly 150 new projects. However, there is fierce resistance from environmentalists and any final outcome is uncertain.

NTPC Coal Moves

Last month, India's largest power producer NTPC floated a global tender for direct procurement of 14.5 million tons, valued about US$1.5 billion. The company will import the fuel directly for the first time. It is also looking at acquiring coal assets abroad, having earmarked nearly US$4 billion for the purpose. The company is studying options in Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, Australia, America, Russia, Indonesia and Mongolia.

"We are looking at picking up stake in two coal mines in Indonesia – East Kalimantan and Sumatra," NTPC Chairman R S Sharma said this week.

Almost 80 percent of NTPC's installed capacity of nearly 32,000 MW is coal-based. The company's coal needs are 150 million tons annually, estimated to rise to 280 million tons by 2017. Its coal imports are estimated at 25 mtpa by 2015-16. NTPC aims to produce over 70,000MW by 2017.

Corporate Tie Ups

To meet the demand, private firms with big power plans are tying up for coal resources overseas.

After securing an Australian asset, Linc Energy Ltd's Galilee thermal coal property in Queensland, Adani Power (with plans to generate 16000 MW) signed a long-term pact last week with Indonesia's state-run coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam.
Tata Power Company (TPC) has forecast that its coal imports will surge to 22 million tons a year by 2014, from 5 million tons last year. The company already owns 30 percent of PT Kaltim Prima Coal in Indonesia with plans to procure 12-14 million tons of coal for its 4000-MW Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP).
Another major, Essar Energy, finalized a deal to buy Aries coal mines in Indonesia following the acquisition of the US-based Trinity Coal (200 million tons reserves) for US$600 million.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Power has bought three coal mines in Indonesia paying over US$1.5 billion. R-Power plans span 25,000 MW. The company has bagged three UMPPs of 4000 MW each

for more http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?op...675&Itemid=225

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Float energiser for CIL board

Calcutta, Sept. 9: Coal India Limited’s (CIL) decision-making powers will get enhanced after the proposed Rs 14,000-crore IPO, expected on October 18.

At present, the CIL board can decide on investments up to Rs 1,000 crore for each project. Any investment above this has to be ratified by the government.

Once listed, CIL will qualify for maharatna status that will empower its board to decide on investments up to Rs 5,000 crore.

Earlier this year, the government awarded the maharatna status to four PSUs, giving them more financial autonomy.

To get the maharatna status, a listed PSU should have an average annual turnover of more than Rs 25,000 crore, a net profit of Rs 5,000 crore and a net worth of Rs 15,000 crore in the last three years.

“Coal India has fared really well, but it has a limitation of not being listed on any stock exchange,” said Bhaskar Chatterjee, secretary at the department of public enterprises.

According to the draft red herring prospectus with market regulator Sebi, Coal India had a consolidated income of Rs 52,592.30 crore and a consolidated profit (after tax) of Rs 9,829.41 crore as on March 31 this year. The company’s net worth was Rs 25,843.74 crore.

CIL accounted for around 82 per cent of the total coal production in 2009-10, catering to 53 per cent of the country’s energy needs.

Foreign asset plan

Coal India is looking to acquire five overseas assets in Australia, Indonesia and the US and has cash reserves of Rs 35,000 crore.

The company has appointed Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Scotland.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/110091...y_12919554.jsp

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NTPC board objects; new site for Jharkhand plant delayed

Objections raised by the NTPC board means a resolution to the dispute over shifting of the site of its proposed 1980 mw power plant in Jharkhand’s North Karanpura area will take another two to three months.

The ministries of coal and power had to take a decision on the new project site by the end of August.

The project was stalled after the ministry of coal found that the proposed plant in Chhapra district was on a coal-bearing area with reserves of over six billion tonnes.

“We are not ready to shift the site of our proposed power plant,” an NTPC official told DNA. A coal ministry official confirmed NTPC is objecting to the proposed new sites for the power plant.

“We want a win-win situation for both NTPC and Coal India Ltd. If NTPC builds a power plant over that site, CIL will lose huge coal reserves. We hope the issue would be resolved in the coming months”, said a coal ministry official.

The project, with an estimated investment of more than Rs8,000 crore spread over 2,500 acres was planned nine years ago but it could not take off due to the carving out of Jharkhand from Bihar.

Following this, a Rs1,500 crore debt committed to the project by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation was nixed.

In 2008, the ministry of coal objected to the project after Coal India Ltd said the project would block excavation of six billion tonnes of coal reserves that were found under the project site.

In February, an inter-ministerial meeting between the ministries of coal and power, with representations from NTPC and Coal India, had proposed alternate sites for the power project.

While NTPC had asked for sometime to consider the proposal of shifting its power plant to the new site, off late the company board has taken a tough stance against the proposal. The North Karanpura coalfield is spread over 1,230 square km and has proven reserves of 14 billion tonne.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report...elayed_1431146

[Marathaman]

Why do we have a separate "Coal ministry"?

[SSCaddict]

because it is a very important sector just like we have oil and gas ministry... there is even renewable energy ministry

[vlakshmi_n]

Coal India may float tenders for abandoned 18 mines in April

Navratna PSU Coal India is likely to float tenders for 18 mines that were abandoned despite holding an estimated 1.6 billion tonnes of reserves in April and not this month, as announced earlier.

"Not much progress has been made on tenders as our hands at present are quite full. Probably, we will now come out with tenders in April," Coal India CMD Partha S Bhattacharya told PTI. In December last year, the coal major said it would float the tenders in January this year. The 18 abandoned underground mines are owned by three of its subsidiaries in partnership with private players. The firm had said underground mining would be revived in six abandoned mines of Eastern Coalfields, eight mines of Bharat Coking Coal and four mines of Central Coalfields. Last fiscal, Coal India received expressions of interest from 12 parties to form 50:50 joint ventures for re-opening the 18 abandoned mines.

Among the parties in the fray were global majors such as ArcelorMittal, Rio Tinto and Titan Mining (Australia). This apart, Reliance Natural Resources, Sterlite, JSW Steel, Monnet Ispat, Essar Steel, a joint venture of SAIL and Tata group and Andhra Pradesh-based GVK Power had also submitted EoIs. Coal India had sought relaxation in the national coal distribution policy to allow the private partner -- which was expected to play the lead role in managing the projects and bringing the technology -- to export 50 per cent of the coal produced from such projects.

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Coal India in multi-billion dollar plan to diversify into oil

State behemoth Coal India Ltd (CIL) is all set to diversify into the cash-rich oil sector and has sought the government’s permission to set up a multi-billion dollar coal-to-liquid (CTL) project in India in a joint venture with South African major SASOL. SASOL, which already has a tie-up with Tata group for developing another CTL facility in India, has one of the largest CTL facilities in the world.
In a recent letter to the coal ministry, CIL has sought the allocation of Deocha-Pachami coal block in West Bengal, which has huge coal reserves to the tune of 19 billion tonnes of coal.

The move follows the visit of coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal to the world’s largest CTL facility set up by SASOL, official sources said . According to COL, on an average, the Sasol plant at Secunda in South Africa converts 100,000 tonnes of coal into 160,000 barrels of liquids each day, meeting roughly 27% of the oil requirements of South Africa.

“Besides it (SASOL’s plant) produces a whole range of coal chemicals. The unit is so profitable that in even in fiscal year 2009 after the global financial crisis, it recorded a turnover of $15.2 billion, earnings of $1.5 billion and an return on equity of 17%,” CIL informed the ministry while forwarding its proposal to set up a similar CTL facility in India.

According to CIL, the coal requirement for a similar facility in India will be huge — to the order of 40 million tonnes per annum.

“Considering a 50-year life of the plant (Secunda plant, Sasol is already 60 years old), a block size of over 2 billion tonnes reserve is required for supply of coal on a long-term basis to the plant,” CIL said in the letter.

The Deocha-Pachami coal block, according to CIL, has so far not been considered for mining because of a thickbed of overlaying hard rocks. Earlier, NMDC had come forward to join hands with CIL for setting up a large coal mine in the area, ofiicials said.

“The West Bengal government has also shown its interest to participate in the joint venture with a minority stake. It is proposed that the allotment of this block under government dispensation to CIL/NMDC joint venture with minority share holding for Bengal government or its nominated institution, be considered expeditiously for setting up a large CTL Plant,” CIL said in its letter.

The SASOL experience, it said, has demonstrated the relevance of such a facility in enhancing energy security along with a hedge against extreme volatility of global oil pacts.

“It would also lead to industrial rejuvenation of the eastern part of the country, which is known to remain backward in industrialisation, compared to other regions,” CIL said.

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[SSCaddict]

GMR close to clinching Indonesian mine

GMR Infrastructure, the Bangalore-based developer of power plant, airports, roads and urban infrastructure, is understood to be closing in on its second coal mine acquisition in Indonesia. The mine is expected to cost close to $150 million and has reserves of close to 200 million tonne. In 2009, GMR had acquired Indonesian coal company PT Barasentosa Lestari for around $80 million with coal reserves of 110 mt.

GMR Infrastructure has been actively seeking captive coal mines as it embarks on a huge expansion of its flagship power generation business and is setting up a slew of projects in India. The company has 14 power projects, of which three are operational (808 Mw) and 11 projects (8,448 Mw) are under various stages of implementation. GMR hopes to have a capacity of 4,261 Mw on stream over the next three years, relying on thermal energy for generation.

Reliance Energy and Essar Group have also acquired coal mines in Indonesia. GMR officials declined to comment on its moves in Indonesia. According to recent reports, the three are also understood to be in the race for mines in Australia.

Government officials have recently said that demand for coal in India is expected to triple over the next two decades, as more players start power generation and increase capacity at steel plants. A majority of power projects in India are thermal and, as India increases its hunger for power, almost all players are scrambling to secure coal reserves.

GMR has been beefing up its war chest for the energy business, raising $300 million (Rs 1,350 crore) from Temasek, IDFC, Argonaut and Ascent Capital in 2010. Simultaneously, it restructured a large chunk of its debt and exited its 50 per cent holding in global power major Intergen for around $1.2 billion (Rs 5,400 crore), thus freeing up the cash to expand its power projects in India.

In addition to having captive coal resources in India and Indonesia for a clutch of power projects, GMR has a 33.5 per cent stake in Homeland Energy Group, a listed company that owns coal properties in South Africa through subsidiary Homeland Mining & Energy. HEG owns a controlling interest in the operational Kendal mines, fully explored Eloff mines and other exploration sites, with total mineable reserves of around 300 mt.

The Eloff mines, which have significant coal reserves, are under pre-feasibility stage, having been fully explored. In addition, HEG holds a 39 per cent stake in Homeland Uranium Inc, a Canadian uranium exploration & development company focused on projects in Niger and the US, and around 12 per cent stake in Altona Resources with coal assets in Australia

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Indonesia thermal coal export ban proposal worries India

Indonesia may be looking to ban the exports of low-grade thermal coal by 2014, a move, which if undertaken, could have an impact on the domestic power sector that is dependent on the Southeast Asian country to bridge the coal supply shortfall in India.

"There are domestic market obligations, as we need coal for our own power producers. From 2014 onwards, we will only export value-added coal of more than 5,600 kilocalories (kcal)," Djunaedi, deputy director of oil, gas and mine products at Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade, said on the sidelines of the ninth Annual Coal Markets Conference.

As the world’s largest thermal coal exporter, Indonesia has often found it difficult to procure enough supplies for domestic consumption. Earlier this year, it implemented a series of measures to ensure that a portion of production was allocated to local industry.
However, the proposed ban on exports of coal under the 5,600-kcal mark stands to change the dynamics of the global thermal coal market, which has seen spiraling demand from Asian economies such as China and India. The latter, for instance, is currently the world’s fastest-growing coal importer.

"Such a ban will have a substantial impact on the thermal coal market, as large amounts of low-quality coal from Indonesia are exported to India and China," said Mark Pervan, global head of commodity research at ANZ.

Low-quality coal, of between 4,800 and 5,800 kcal, constitutes a significant portion of exports out of Indonesia and, considering the country accounts for about 30 per cent of the global thermal coal supply, an export ban could reduce worldwide supplies by at least 10 per cent, Pervan added.

But Indonesia’s local mining industry is pushing hard to stop the move. "We are in discussions with the government and are trying to postpone the ban. If this measure is implemented, it will hit 60 per cent of our exports and we don’t have the technology to undertake value-addition. The government must give us the technology if this is what it wants," said Bob Kamandanu, chairman of the Indonesian Coal Producers Association.

India Impact

India is already among the largest buyers of coal from Indonesia, and is expected to maintain this position considering the growth in domestic demand and stagnating production of major miners such as Coal India. Earlier this month, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said India might have to import 142 million tonnes (mt) of the fuel in the next financial year, up from the earlier estimates of 104 mt.

"There will be an overall impact on the Indian power sector, as currently about 60 per cent of the total thermal coal imports are coming from Indonesia. If the ban comes in, it could also affect domestic coal prices, apart from influencing global thermal coal prices," said Rupesh Sankhe, an analyst at Angel Broking.

Moreover, Indian firms have considerable interests in Indonesia’s coal sector. Tata Power holds a 30 per cent stake in two of the country’s largest coal mines and the Adani Group, India’s biggest coal importer, last year committed $1.6 billion to build mining-related infrastructure in that country.

"It is a draft law at present, and there will be consultations with interested parties before finalisation," a spokesperson for the Adani Group said, adding that the group was already evaluating the possibility of setting up a power plant in Indonesia that would run on locally-mined coal.

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[SSCaddict]

India's NTPC to issue import tender for 4 mln T coal

* State-run utility's first tender to directly import coal

* Says FY12 coal import seen at 16 mlnT vs 12.5 mlnT in FY11

* Aims to add over 5,000 MW in FY12 vs 3,150 MW in FY11

NEW DELHI, March 4 (Reuters) - India's largest power producer, NTPC Ltd (NTPC.BO: Quote), will this month float its first tender to directly import 4 million tonnes of coal to feed its expanding capacity, its chairman said on Friday.

Arup Roy Choudhury said the state-run utility, which had relied on government trading firms such as MMTC Ltd (MMTC.BO: Quote) and State Trading Corp of India (STC) (STCI.BO: Quote) for imports, would consume 12.5 million tones of imported coal in the current year ending on March 31.

"Next fiscal we plan to import 16 million tones. Of this 12 million tonnes have already been arranged by STC, and remaining we will do directly. By March 31 we will float the coal import tender for 4 million tonnes," he said.

NTPC would be seeking 5,700-6,300 gross calorific value coal through the tender and would want sellers to deliver coal at its plants, Roy Choudhury said.

India has 10 percent of the world's coal reserves, the biggest after the United States, Russia and China, but imports have grown rapidly and the country plans to import 84 million tonnes in the current financial year.

Coal-fired plants account for about half of India 168 gigawatts installed capacity.

NTPC aims to add more than 5,000 megawatts (MW) generation capacity in the next fiscal year versus about 3,150 MW in the current fiscal, Roy Choudhury said.

India needs to significantly raise its power generation capacity to reduce peak hour power shortages and provide electricity to millions of rural households.

NTPC's coal import requirement is set to rise further as it aims to have 75,000 MW generation capacity by March 2017, as against 33,000 MW now, Roy Choudhury said. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

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[SSCaddict]

Lanco acquires Griffin coal for A$730 mn

BANGALORE: Leading infrastructure company Lanco Infratech on Friday agreed to acquire Australia's Griffin Coal for A$730 million (about 3,400 crore) extending the recent spate of buyouts by Indian companies eager to secure resources to feed their units. The transaction will be the second biggest investment by an Indian company in Australian, after Adani Enterprises acquired Linc of Australia in August last year for $2.7 billion.

"The acquisition will meet 30% of our overall coal requirement till 2015," Lanco CFO Suresh Kumar told ET. The company would require 40-50 million tonnes of coal over the next four years to fuel its power projects in India. Griffin's mines are expected to give Lanco access to 4 million tonnes of thermal coal, which can be increased to more than 15 million tonnes, Lanco said in a statement.

Shares of Lanco ended down 2.76% at 36.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.

India, Asia's third-largest economy, is expanding at more than 8% a year. However Indian companies are struggling to meet coal demand from domestic production with many companies venturing to Australia and Indonesia to buy mines.

Last year, companies, including JSW, Essar Energy, Reliance Power , Tata Power, had acquired coal mines in Australia, Indonesia and South Africa to meet their power generating plans. Lanco has finalised the funding for acquiring Griffin. ICICI Bank has said it will lend A$480 million for the upfront cost. The three-year loan comes at LIBOR plus 400 bps interest.

The payment will be done in three instalments; first the upfront, then about A$100 million as second payout and then A$150 million in four years. This would be funded from internal accruals, said Kumar. Previous estimates had valued the deal at $800-850 million.

Griffin, founded by businessman Rick Stowe, sought bankruptcy protection on January 3, after defaulting on $475 million in bonds. The firm appointed outside managers to sell its units, including Griffin Energy.

The assets attracted bidders like Reliance Power, Adani Power and GMR from India, apart from interested parties from Australia and China. Western Australia-based Griffin Coal's assets include thermal coal mines with a production of more than 4 million tones. Lanco will build rail linkages, and expand facilities at Bunbury port, 85 km away from the mine. "The port is close to the mine and will help the company save A$15 million a tonne on coal import," said a person having knowledge of the development.

Lanco also plans to increase power generation capacity in India by seven-fold in five years and may bring some of the coal from the Griffin mines to India. "We have a large capacity expansion by 2015, a major share of which is based on coal," said Kumar.

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[Naresh]

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Indians mining a success story down under

SYDNEY : Kolkata's Arun Jagatramka is a popular figure in government circles here. Officials of the New South Wales government never tire of quoting him as an example of what foreign investors can do in this resource-rich country. Jagatramka owns what is arguably coal mines with the best view - the mines overlooking the beautiful sea, some 70 kms from Sydney. "These were century old mines that were being closed, but I took a risk and bought them at throwaway prices. Now we find there are reserves of premium hard coal worth 550 million tons and life for 50-60 years,'' Jagatramka told TOI. He adds: "Jobs have been created and incomes generated making the local community happy.''

In neighbouring Queensland state that has the largest coal reserves in the world, Ahmedabad's Gautam Adani is fast rising to eminence. For Adani has bought the rights of coal mining in the Galilee Basin aiming to establish a huge 60 million ton per annum facility. A 150 km rail line to the port that will also benefit other coal miners in the region is part of the Adani charter. Adani's Gallilee mines now renamed Carmichael project after a river that runs in the region will yield coal for over one hundred years.

A Lanco proposal to mine coal in Western Australia is also in the final stage of approval.

"We welcome Indian investments in huge quantum... Australia is built on the back of foreign investments and there is no way that we can do this on our own,'' says Australia's federal minister for resources, energy and tourism, Martin Ferguson. So keen is the minister for India's investment that recently he went public with the demand that an Australian ban on uranium exports to India be lifted.

Director of Access Economics, Ian Harper, explains the Australian need for Indian investments. "Australia is huge country rich in minerals-iron, bauxite, uranium and coal. But with a population of merely 22 million, there is none to mine this stuff. Two decades ago we welcomed China and they set up huge mining facilities. They carried the iron ore back home and we got the moolah. Though we may have become rich, there is a growing economic and geopolitical concern about this Chinese overdependence and its implications. This is where India comes in. India can become a counterveiling force to China,'' says Harper.

Concern over this Chinese overdependence is a subject of great debate in Australian newspapers these days although every one realises that this huge Chinese demand for Australian resources all through the global financial crisis saw the latter country boom. This has led to the Australian dollar touching a value that is equal to the US dollar and unprecedented prosperity Down Under. "So huge is the Australian dependence on China that bankers often use value of the Australian dollar as a proxy for the Chinese currency. But clearly the Aussies are now a bit concerned about the geo-political impact of this relationship,'' says CEO of SBI's Sydney operations S Salee. Government officials are of course more circumspect. "Let's put it like this, China has supported us through the financial crisis. Now we are looking towards India,'' says Eric Roozendaal, treasurer and minister for state and regional development of the New South Wales government.

The treasurer says that the Indians are welcome not only to prospect for minerals and exploit them, but also free to buy up land for farming. "In India corporates have been wanting to go into farming for long. They can exploit the opportunity in Australia,'' says Salee. Not surprisingly the Chinese have huge land holdings Down Under though no estimates could be obtained.

All analysts say that Australia may present a great opportunity but Indian businessmen should gear up to strong corporate governance and environmental norms. They point to Pankaj Oswal who had set up a $700 million fertiliser plant in Western Australia a few years ago and became well known for the $70 million mansion that he built and the parties that he threw. Now he has run away leaving behind his company in debts and with charges of financial misdemeanour. "The India investment story is unlikely to be halted by the Oswal episode,'' says Hamish McDonald, Asia Pacific editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. But as they say, in Rome do as Romans do.

Cheers

[SSCaddict]

Production from Coal India's 46 projects delayed: Patil

NEW DELHI: The government today said production from 46 projects of Coal India Ltd ( CIL )), world's largest coal producer, was delayed due to various reasons, including environmental hurdles.

Of these, 11 projects of the navratna firm were behind schedule because of unavailability of both forestry and environmental clearance. While 14 projects of the firm got delayed due to land acquisition and relief and rehabilitation (R&R) issues, Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"...9 projects are delayed due to lack of participation in bids, 2 projects are delayed due to adverse geological conditions and 5 projects due to reasons like delay in shaft sinking activity, delay in supply of equipment, delay in contractor etc," Patil said.

"In addition to the above, 5 major projects of X Plan, with an aggregate capacity of 35 MT (million tonnes) could not be taken up for want of forestry clearance," he added.

The Coal India, the minister said, has taken various measures to fight with the problems delaying the production from the projects.

It has undertaken vigorous follow up action with land acquisition officials to fast-track acquisition proceedings. It has also held regular meetings with state authorities to solve acute problems.

"Forest officials are contacted on regular basis... Periodical contacts are done with the regional office of MoEF ( Ministry of Environment and Forest )), New Delhi for expediting clearance of the forestry proposals," the minister said.

The minister also said domestic coal production fell short of target over the last three years due to various problems like environmental clearances and land acquisition problems among others.

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[SSCaddict]

Originally Posted by Suncity

Coal India Looks to Boost Underground Mining Operations

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...433251674.html

from WB thread

[SSCaddict]

GVK Power to pay Rs 10k cr for 2 Hancock coal mines

GVK Power & Infra will pay about Rs 10,091 crore ($2.2 billion) for two Australian coal mines owned by Hancock Prospecting, a financial daily reported today.

As part of the deal, the company will pay about Rs 4,100 crore ($900 million) to develop transport infrastructure to carry the coal to the port, the report said citing lenders and company officials.

[SSCaddict]

Pvt power firms seek fuel based on merit

Against the backdrop of the government mulling over the allocation of more coal to state-run NTPC, private power producers like Reliance and the Tatas have asked the Coal Ministry to allocate the dry fuel on the basis of project merits, rather than ownership.

In a letter to the Coal Ministry, the Association of Power Producers (APP) has also stressed on the need for a level-playing field in the allocation of coal.

Coal should be allocated based on the merits of projects and not on the basis of ownership, APP Director General Ashok Khurana in a letter to Coal Secretary Alok Perti.

APP is a grouping of many power generators, including Reliance, the Tatas, Essar, Adani Group and GMR Energy.

Khurana also said that coal is a scarce natural resource and it must be distributed on the basis of its efficient use and in a manner to maximise the benefit to end-consumers of power.

In the wake of power supply disruptions in different parts of the country, the Coal Ministry recently said that it would make efforts to provide more coal to the country's largest power producer, NTPC.

Coal shortages due to factors like the Telangana agitation and Orissa floods have hurt power generation at many NTPC plants, which are operating at sub-optimal levels.

Last Wednesday, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said his ministry will make efforts to provide more coal to NTPC.

"We will try to make available more coal to NTPC through e-auction," he had said. However, further details on the proposal were not available.

E-auction is a process under which coal is sold at market prices through an online bidding process.

According to Khurana, importing coal is not a solution to the country's fuel supply problems.

"Supply of low and varied quantities of indigenous coal may have serious functional ramifications for power plants.

"...The boilers here can accept only a blend of not more than 15-20% of the imported with domestic coal," he wrote in the letter.

This technical constraint makes it difficult for the existing thermal plants to provide an undertaking for accepting unspecified quantities of imported coal, he noted.

Fuel Supply Agreements (FSAs) are granted for a period of five years, whereas the commitment for supply of energy under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) is between 25-30 years, he added.

Khurana pointed out that for a developer to meet its obligations to procurers, there cannot be any disconnect between the PPA and FSA.

The lenders would also be extremely reluctant to finance a project which has no sustained and assured supply of fuel, he said in the letter.

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CIL blames weather for poor show in H1

State-run Coal India today blamed adverse weather for its inability to meet production targets in the first half of the 2011-12 financial year, with output falling short of the mark by about 20 million tonnes.

The company could produce only about 176 MT of coal in the April-September, 2011, period, as against the target of 196 MT, due to heavy rains in mining areas.

"Because of heavy rainfall in the month of August and September, the company could not achieve its production target," Coal India Ltd (CIL) Chairman N C Jha told PTI.

However, he exuded confidence that the company will meet its 452 MT production target for the entire financial year despite adverse factors like delays in the grant of environmental clearance to its projects.

Earlier, CIL had blamed early rains and inclement weather in the eastern region for its inability to achieve the 98.7 million tonnes (MT) target for the first quarter of the current fiscal as well.

The public sector firm had missed its April-June target by 2.4 MT.

The Planning Commission has asked the Coal Ministry to chalk out an action plan to ensure that CIL meets its production target for the current financial year.

"Negative growth (in output) of Coal India is a matter of grave concern... It is requested a quick review may be undertaken at the ministry level and a plan of action worked out to realise the overall production target in the remaining period of the year," the Planning Commission had said in a letter to the Coal Ministry.

CIL accounts for 80 per cent of domestic coal production in the country. It had registered a decline of about 2.6 per cent in production to 152.4 MT in April-August, 2011, vis-a-vis the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. It produced 156.6 MT of coal in the first five months last fiscal.

The letter further said, "We are aware of the difficulties in enhancing the production level due to environmental concerns, but with relaxation of CEPI norms imposed earlier, CIL should be able to increase its production level."

The Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) captures various health dimensions of the environment and acts as a warning tool to facilitate early intervention by the government. In 2009, the Environment Ministry had introduced CEPI to ascertain environmental quality at specific locations and conducted a nation-wide assessment of industrial clusters.

CIL missed its production target last fiscal, recording an output of 431 MT, as against the revised target of 440 MT.