India's Coal Sector

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GVK, Lanco Infra highest bidders for Aussie coal mine

Hyderabad-based GVK and Lanco Infratech are the highest bidders for the acquisition of Australia’s Griffin Coal. The company owning the coal mine, valued at $1 billion, opened the bids last week and only four had bid. Talks will begin later on the share purchase agreement, which will be done much later, after the negotiations are completed.

“However, the bids do not mean that the deal is done, because these bids were put in with lot of caveats by companies. The owners will decide on the buyer after thorough negotiations with each of these bidders. The owners will meet with each of these bidders and negotiate the terms. The price bids might also change if the owners insist on changing the conditions put in with the bids,” said a bidder speculation. An e-mail to GVK went unanswered. Griffin Coal could not be spoken to.
Other than Indian companies, a Chinese one is known to have to have put in a bid. An Australian company has offered equity as part of the bid.

Sources say the mine is known to have reserves of 280-300 million tonnes. It also comes with an operating power plant of 500 Mw.

The winning company would also have to construct a port close to the mines, to increase exports from there, now at 1.5 million tonnes. After port capacity addition, exports can increase to five million, say sources.

Australia and Indonesia have been favourite spots to secure coal supply for power companies here due to their proximity to India. Reliance Power acquired three coal mines in Indonesia in May 2008. GMR acquired an Indonesian coal mine company, PT Barasentosa Lestari, for Rs 400 crore in 2009. In 2007, Tata Power bought 30 per cent stake in two coal companies for $1.1 billion.

Almost every Indian power producer has been hunting for coal assets abroad. A Fitch Ratings’ report has India’s import of 70 million tonnes in 2009-10 should rise to 85 mt by the end of 2010-11. The ministry of power has forecast a rise in imports to at least 100 mt by 2011-12, as aggregate coal demand reaches 730 mt

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[SSCaddict]

Australia's Leighton wins $5.3 bn coal contract

SYDNEY: Australian contractor Leighton Holdings on Thursday said it had won a 22-year coal mining contract with India's state-owned NTPC power company worth 5.5 billion dollars (5.3 billion US).

Leighton said the "landmark" Pakri Barwadhi mine development and coal mining contract, awarded to its subsidiary Theiss, the world's biggest contract coal miner, was one of the largest ever given by NTPC.

Theiss mining chief Bruce Munro said the deal was an important step in establishing a foothold in the subcontinent's lucrative coal market. "India has the fourth-largest coal reserves in the world and is the third-largest producer," Munro said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

"We believe this project will lead to more opportunities for Theiss in India, particularly given the strong economic growth currently occurring."

NTPC is India's largest power generator, and Theiss said Pakri Barwadhi would be the first of six local mines slated for development to replace expensive imported coal. An annual production rate of 15 million tonnes was planned by the end of the first three years, with 300 million tonnes expected to be mined over the 22-year life of the contract, Theiss added.

Australian officials say India will become an increasingly important trade partner in coming years, with swift urbanisation to stoke its appetite for resources such as coal and iron ore.

Gold, coal, copper and petroleum were Australia's top exports to India, its fifth-largest trade partner, in 2009, in a relationship worth 18 billion dollars.

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[SSCaddict]

NTPC may opt for Indonesia over Africa, Oz for coal mines

NEW DELHI: Country's largest power producer NTPC, which is scouting for coal properties abroad to fuel its power plants back home, may zero in on Indonesia for its proximity, compared to Australia and Africa.

"If you look at the logistics of transportation, Indonesia is the nearest, than Australia... we are not averse to importing from Africa," NTPC CMD Arup Roy Choudhary told media in an interview.

NTPC may pick up stake in two coal mines in Indonesia, East Kalimanthan and Sumatra. The company is looking at striking a deal that is financially feasible. "Ultimately it would boil down to what would be the cost. If we bring costly coal, customers like state electricity boards cannot afford it," Choudhary said.

The company is also scouting for coal properties in the Australian continent and may acquire coal blocks in Queensland and North South Wales. It has identified 2-3 such properties.

NTPC coal requirement is likely to touch 165 million tonnes (MT) in the next financial year (2011-12), of which it may import 12-15 MT. At present, state-owned trading firms State Trading Corp (STC) and Minerals and Metals Trading Corp (MMTC) source coal from abroad on behalf of NTPC. "In one year's time, say by December next year, we would be able to import it ourself," he added.

NTPC, currently generates over 32,000 MW of power, of which nearly 60 per cent is coal-based. It is planning to ramp up this capacity to 50,000 MW by March, 2012

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[SSCaddict]

Lanco Infratech to buy Australia's Griffin Coal assets; shares up 6.55%

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Lanco Infratech on Wednesday said it had agreed to buy coal mines owned by Australia's Griffin Coal for an undisclosed sum, as the infrastructure major looks to secure fuel for its ambitious capacity addition plans.

The deal is valued at $800 million to $850 million, according to a report in The Australian newspaper.

Lanco shares surged as much as 6.55 per cent to Rs 65 in early trade on Wednesday. At 1:15 p.m., they were up 2.21 per cent at Rs 62.35.

Lanco's Australian unit will buy Griffin Coal Mining Co and Carpenter Mine Management (Griffin Coal), which have been up for sale since mid-2010.

Privately-held Griffin was under administration after the company missed a A$25 million payment to bond investors last December and faced a A$5 million tax bill.

The assets attracted bidders like Reliance Power , Adani Power and GMR from India, apart from interested parties from Australia and China, media reports had said.

Western Australia-based Griffin Coal owns thermal coal mines with a production of more than 4 million tonnes per annum, which can be ramped up to more than 15 million tonnes in the near term.

"It's a large coal asset with a large resource base" Suresh Kumar, chief financial officer at Lanco Infratech, said, adding the acquired property will boost production "significantly" in the next three or four years.

Lanco is looking to raise capacity to 9,500 MW by 2014 from 2,100 MW at present, and is developing eight new projects, with a combined capacity of about 10,500 MW, Kumar told Reuters last month.

"It is an acquisition that gives more confidence to someone who is looking at securing their fuel linkages," said Vijaykumar Bupathy, an analyst with Spark Capital.

The coal mines could make up as much as 40 percent of Lanco's capacity by 2015, if Lanco gets access to the entire output from these mines, Bupathy said.

"This acquisition also presents an opportunity for Lanco to participate in the burgeoning natural resources trading market," Kumar said in the statement to the stock exchanges.

The deal, which is expected to be immediately revenue-accretive, will be funded by debt, Kumar said.

The company, valued at $3.25 billion, will seek more acquisitions in Australia, Africa and Indonesia, he added.

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[SSCaddict]

Coal India In Advanced Talks To Buy Up To 15% Of Peabody Mine - Source

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- Coal India Ltd. is in advanced talks with Peabody Energy Corp. to buy up to a 15% stake in the U.S.-based coal producer's Wilkie Creek mine in Australia for about $120 million, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
"Peabody Energy has valued the mine at $800 million," the person, who didn't wish to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires earlier this week.
Coal India is negotiating by valuing the mine at $600 million-$800 million, he said, adding that "the company wants to buy a 10%-15% stake in the mine."
DSP Merrill Lynch is advising Coal India on the proposed deal. The state-run Indian company, the world's biggest coal producer, has also appointed Minarco-MineConsult as a technical adviser.

The mine has an estimated coal reserve of 400 million tons, the person said.
Peabody didn't respond to an email seeking comment.
On April 12, Peabody and Coal India said in a joint statement they are in a broad range of preliminary talks to explore long-term coal supplies and other possible ventures.
Coal India is trying to acquire coal assets overseas to meet growing demand from local utilities, which aim to add 113 gigawatts of power generation capacity over the next seven years. India now has a power generation capacity of 167 gigawatts.
The overseas plans are important for Coal India to meet local demand because its efforts to increase domestic output have been stymied as various projects are stuck due to delays in receiving environmental and forest clearances.
Earlier this year, a team from Coal India visited Peabody Energy's Metropolitan Under Ground Mine and Wilkie Creek Mine in Australia.
Located in the Surat Basin of South-East Queensland, Wilkie Creek mine produces 2.35 million tonnes of low sulphur, low nitrogen and environmentally superior thermal coal annually, according to the Peabody website.
Coal India has earmarked $1.2 billion for global acquisitions for the current financial year that began April 1 to feed the rising demand for coal in the country. The company had INR380.50 billion [$8.37 billion] in cash and bank deposits as of end-June.
Coal India is also in separate talks with U.S.' Massey Energy Co.'s and Indonesia-based Novem/Sinarma to buy stakes in their respective mines and also get assured supply of coal, the person said earlier this week.
Coal India officials previously conducted due diligence on Massey's Sidney Underground Mines in the U.S. and Novem/Sinarma's Borneo Inclobana and G 3 mines in Indonesia.
The company is also in talks with several global companies including Peabody Energy for long-term supply agreement, the person said.
India produced 532 million tons of coal in the last financial year, of which Coal India's contribution was about 430 million tons.
The demand-supply gap of coal in India is estimated around 80 million tonnes.

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[SSCaddict]

Adani bags 6 million tonne steam coal tender from NTPC

Bloomberg reported that Adani Enterprises Ltd has won a contract from State Trading Corp. of India Ltd. to procure 6 million tonnes of the steam coal for NTPC Ltd.

As per report, Ahmedabad based Adani, Indore based Bhatia International Ltd, New Delhi based Knowledge Infrastructure Systems Ltd, Dubai based Coal & Oil Group and Dubai based Ghumaz Traders submitted offers. Adani made the lowest offer followed by Ghumaz Traders and Bhatia International.

The report cited traders, who declined to be identified because the bid was confidential, as saying that deliveries of steam coal, which will be sourced from Indonesia and South Africa, will begin by the end of next month.

NTPC awarded a contract to State Trading to purchase 12 million tonnes of thermal coal on its behalf by the end of March 2013.

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[SSCaddict]

NMDC to commence prod from MP coal blocks by year end

State-run NMDC today said that its two coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh, containing an estimated 100 million tonnes of reserves, are likely to commence production by the end of this year.

The two projects at Shahpur East and Shahpur West are NMDC's maiden ventures in the coal business and the estimated output of about 1 million tonnes per annum.

"We are hopeful of developing two underground mines -- Shahpur East and Shahpur West in Shahdol and Umaria districts, Madhya Pradesh by the year-end," a National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) official told PTI.

He said the blocks -- spanning a total area of about 13 square kilometres -- were allocated by the Ministry of Coal in 2007 for commercial use and the output will be sold to power producers.

Sources said the company has already submitted a Mining Plan to the Ministry of Coal and is hopeful that it will be cleared by March.

Meanwhile, NMDC -- which is now diversifying into the steel-making business -- has been looking for captive coal reserves to feed its proposed new plants in Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.

The company is a part of International Coal Ventures Ltd -- a consortium of PSUs like SAIL, Coal India and NTPC -- which was formed with the objective of acquiring overseas coal assets.

Independently, NMDC is considering proposals to acquire coal mines in countries like South Africa, Russia, Mozambique and the US.

In Russia, NMDC is looking to acquire Kolmar's coal mines and other nearby assets. The coal mines are understood to have estimated reserves of 400 million tonnes.

NMDC, along with two other companies, has already submitted a $230 million non-binding bid to buy a 70 per cent stake in a coal mine in Australia owned by Perth-based Atlas Iron.

The company has indicated that it plans to set up a 2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) plant in Karnataka. In addition, NMDC plans to commission a 3-MTPA integrated steel plant in Chhattisgarh by 2014 at an investment of over Rs 15,000 crore.

It has also inked a pact with Russia's Severstal for a 5-million tonne steel plant in Karnataka at an estimated expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore.

The miner is investing Rs 3,400 crore to augment its annual iron ore production to about 41 million tonnes from around 22 million tonnes at present.

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[SSCaddict]

India’s Coal Imports Rose by 14 Percent in 2010, ICMW Says

India’s coal imports rose by 14 percent last year to 86.28 million metric tons from 2009, India Coal Market Watch said in an e-mailed note, citing port data.

Imports of coking coal, used in steel making, totaled 25.8 million tons and the rest was made up of thermal coal, according to the newsletter. Imports of the fuel may rise to more than 100 million tons this year because India is adding about 4,000 megawatts of coal-fired capacity, it said.

Overseas purchases of coking coal rose by 1.3 percent last year, while thermal coal imports increased by about 24 percent, according to the report.

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[SSCaddict]

Coal India cuts output targets for fiscal & 2011-12

KOLKATA : Coal India has lowered its production targets downwards for the current and the next fiscal years as a pollution norm has hit output from almost all its mines.

Targets have been cut by 20 million tonnes in the current fiscal and by almost 40 million tonnes during 2011-12.

The state-run firm has informed the coal ministry it will produce a 440 million tonnes of coal during the current financial against the original target of 460.5 million tonnes. For 2011-12, CIL is now targeting a total production of 447 million tonnes, against the earlier target of 486 million tonnes.

"We were forced to reduce our production targets due a pollution norm that will restrict us from expanding existing mines as well as taking up new projects in mining areas. We have informed the coal ministry about the revised targets," Coal India Chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya said.

A decline in targeted production is expected to hit coal offtake as well its expected bottom line for the company that was listed last year after its IPO.

The Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoEF) in a letter to coal companies late last year said no expansion would be allowed in areas with Composite Environment Pollution Index greater than 70 till March 2011. The index mainly calculates toxic materials in air due to certain operations. CEPI, at areas where coal mining is undertaken, is largely less than 45. But other activities in the adjacent areas may inflate the number substantially.

According to an earlier circular by the MoEF, expansions were barred in areas till September 2010, where CEPI was greater 70. This deadline was extended to March 2011 hitting coal production and forcing CIL to reduce its targets.

"The extended deadline will severely hit CIL's subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields' production, while all other coal companies' expansion plans were affected. It will also affect new projects that fall under such areas. Nevertheless, we are in talks with the MoEF to find a way out." said Bhattacharyya.

The coal major had already taken a production hit during the period April to November 2010. It produced 258.76 million tonnes during the period against its internal target of 282 million tonnes - a 23.24 million tonnes of shortfall. In terms of offtake, the internal target was 297.28 million tonnes, while it managed a total offtake of 269.17 million tonnes during the period - a shortfall of 28 million tonnes.

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[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.

[SSCaddict]

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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[SSCaddict]

Essar, GVK, Lanco in $2-bn race for Hancock Coal

A month after Lanco Infratech made a Rs 3,375-crore acquisition of Griffen Coal Mining in Australia, the race to acquire coal assets Down Under is getting intense. At least three Indian companies — Essar Group, GVK and Lanco Infratech — are set to bid to acquire two flagship mines of Hancock Coal, an Australian energy and resources company, said two independent sources aware of the ongoing negotiations.

The two mines – Alpha Coal Project and Kevin’s Corner – are located in the Galilee Basin, adjacent to the mine that Adani Enterprises acquired last year from Linc Energy.

The Alpha Coal Project is an open cut coal mine of the Galilee, a key coal basin in Australia that can produce up to 30 million tonnes of coal per year for over 30 years. Along with Kevin’s Corner, which is an adjoining complex, the two mines are expected to have a combined resource of 7.9 billion tonnes of thermal coal. Of that, Alpha alone has 3.6 billion tonnes of measured, indicated and inferred compliant resources that have been vetted by the Joint Ore Resources Committee (JORC).
Unlike Alpha, Kevin’s Corner is a new project and is being developed . Mine development construction work is slated to begin in 2011, with first production expected in 2013.

Sources say the Indian companies will face competition from global bidders, including some Chinese mining companies. Preliminary bids have been submitted and are expected to exceed the $2 billion mark.

The Indian companies have qualified for the next stage, nvolving binding financial bids. It is still not clear if Hancock will settle for such a high financial offer upfront or if the bidders will actually prefer a staggered payout with a royalty component thrown in.

A source said the China National Coal Group Corporation, the state mining company, also looked at this asset but has opted out. This, however, could not be independently verified.

When contacted, an Essar group spokesperson told Business Standard that “as a policy, they will not comment on market speculation”. Sources in Essar Energy, however, added that even though the target company did approach them with an offer, they may not finally join a bidding war.

GVK’s CFO Isaac George also refused to comment when Business Standard approached him. Lanco spokesperson also refused to comment.

The total cost of acquisition and the subsequent development of the mines will be a capital- intensive venture. Like Adani’s asset in the same basin, these mines, too, will need a multi-user railroad and a port terminal with a coal handling facility and stockyard site, berthing and ship loader at Abbott Point, is the preferred loading site. Some analysts peg the total capex at a mind boggling $10 billion, but there are possibilities that mining companies with assets in the region will all pool in for combined infrastructure-related investments.

Australia has recently become a hot favourite for coal mine seekers. Recently, two Indian companies — Adani Enterprises and Lanco Infratech — have sealed high profile coal mine acquisitions in the country. Adani paid a whopping $2.7 billion (Rs 12,300 crore) in cash and royalty to acquire Linc Energy, which has 7.8 billion tonnes in reserves.

Lanco Infratech acquired Griffin coal mine in Collie, Australia for A$ 750 million (Rs 3,375 crore). The mine has reserves to the tune of 1.1 billion tonnes and currently produces over 4 mtpa of coal and can be ramped up to over 15 mpta in the near term, post-development of evacuation infrastructure. The company said it would be spending around A$900 million (Rs 4,050 crore) as capex towards mine and infrastructure development.

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[SSCaddict]

Jindal wins 25-yr coal licence in Mozambique

Mozambique has awarded India's Jindal Steel & Power a 25-year licence to explore and mine for coal in the northwest Tete province, in return for a $180 million investment, the country's resources ministry said on Friday.

Jindal will invest $180 million in the Tete coal mine, as part of a project that will cover 2,1540 hectares and directly employ 1,500 people, the Mineral Resources Ministry said in a statement.

The deal will be formally signed on Monday and the government will own a 10% stake.

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[SSCaddict]

Indian firm to launch exploration tender for coal blocks in Mozambique

APA Maputo (Mozambique) State-run Coal India Limited will this month launch a tender to hire a company to conduct exploratory drilling in the two blocks awarded to it in Mozambique, to evaluate the coal reserves estimated at just over one billion tons, the official Mozambique News Agency reports on Monday.

The exploratory drilling of the two blocks are due to start in May this year, while production could start in 2015.

"The public tender for the contracting agency that will carry out drilling in order to quantify the reserves of coal in the two blocks will be released this month," AIM quotes an official of CIL.

The Navratna, the Indian company operating in the mining industry, in January submitted a programme to the Mozambican government during the tour of a high-profile Indian delegation led by India’s Minister of Coal, Sriprakash Jaiswal.

After the preliminary drilling will follow the detailed exploration in May 2012, to quantify the current allocations and assess the geological risks.

The mine plan will be drawn in two blocks in 2013 and is expected to start production process for late 2014 and early 2015.

Coal India won the two blocks in August 2009, through a public tender launched by the Mozambican government at the time.

The Indian Coal Minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said his country will help Mozambique with infrastructural support to operate the two blocks.

The Coal India, which accounts for more than 80 percent of domestic production in India, seeks more coal overseas to meet the growing gap between supply and demand, estimated at 82 million tonnes.

Estimates indicate that demand will grow to 142 million between 2011/12.

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[SSCaddict]

15 Coal India projects may get green clearance in two months

NEW DELHI: The Coal Ministry has expressed confidence that 15 of Coal India Ltd's (CIL) projects that have been waiting for environmental clearance are likely to get the green signal in another two months.

"It is quite likely that 15 projects of Coal India may get environmental clearance in another two months," a top official with the Coal Ministry said.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh had an hour-long meeting last evening to take a call on the fate of CIL projects hanging fire due to non-receipt of environmental clearance.

Almost 100 projects of the coal miner came up for discussion in the meeting, which was also attended by CIL Chairman P S Bhattacharya and a few other subsidiaries of the coal major.

As many as 154 projects of Coal India, spread across over 26,000 hectares of land and having a production potential of about 210 million tonnes, are waiting for environmental clearances at the Centre and state level.

Both ministers met earlier this week as well to resolve major issues hurting coal production. Jaiswal had said that a consensus has been reached with the Environment Ministry to sort out many contentious issues involving the sector.

In December last year, the Coal Ministry had expressed concern that delays in the grant of environment clearance to CIL were likely to result in a production loss of about 190 million tonnes of output, valued at about Rs 18,800 crore, by March, 2012.

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[SSCaddict]

Lanco to infuse $1 bn in Australian mine to augment output

NEW DELHI: Lanco Infra today said it will infuse $1 billion in Australian Griffin Coal Mines to ramp up production to about 18 MT by 2015 from present 5 MT, even though is not eying large acquisitions at this time.

"We need to consolidate our big-ticket projects. Right now our focus is on Griffin, how best to integrate it. We plant to take production capacity from the mines to 17-18 million tonnes (MT) from present 5 MT in the next four years," Lanco Infra Chief Financial Officer J Suresh Kumar told PTI.

Kumar said though the company was eying on acquiring overseas assets, it was not looking at any large acquisition.

"We are exploring various properties in Australia , Indonesia and Africa, but will not be able to do a large acquisition at this point of time after Griffin," he said without naming Hancock.

Earlier media reports had said that Lanco, Essar Group and GVK Power were separately bidding for Australian mining company Hancock's two coal mines.

The infrastructure developer had announced acquiring Griffin Coal mines in December 2010 to secure fuel for its projects to take power generation capacity to 15,000 MW by 2015 from existing 2,100 MW.

"We plan to augment our power generation capacity to 15,000 MW by 2015 at an investment of Rs 80,000 crore," Kumar said.

At present, while its power portfolio includes an operating capacity of about 2,100 MW, the construction and EPC division of the company is executing various orders worth about Rs 27,000 crore.

The company's consolidated net profit grew by 53.52 per cent to Rs 164.03 crore for the third quarter ended December 31,2010, over the same period a year ago.

The group had a consolidated net profit of Rs 106.84 crore for the same quarter last fiscal while its total income increased to Rs 1,661.45 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 1,612.76 crore for the same period previous fiscal.

Lanco operates across a chain of strategic business units (SBUs) comprising power, EPC, construction, renewables, resources and non-power infrastructure.

The company share closed at Rs 38.50, down 16.76 per cent from its previous close on BSE.

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[SSCaddict]

ICVL examining various coal blocks abroad for buyout: govt

The government today said International Coal Ventures (IVCL), a consortium of five state- run firms, is examining various proposals for acquiring coal assets in Australia, besides participating in auctions for acquisition of stake in underdeveloped coal assets overseas.

"ICVL is reviewing several proposals for acquiring coal properties in Australia with a view to examine their suitability and viability. Due diligence is in the progress," State Minister for Coal Pratik Prakash Bapu Patil said in a reply to the Lok Sabha.

The minister said the company has also identified several nations like Indonesia, Mozambique, USA and Colombia for acquisition of coal properties.
"Proposals received from these countries are also under review," the minister said, adding that the coal to be sourced from these assets, once acquired, would be primarily used by the promoter firms of ICVL.

Earlier, ICVL had said that it was optimistic of acquiring two to three coal assets in Australia and Indonesia this year.

In addition, ICVL -- a special purpose vehicle of Steel Authority of India, Coal India, NMDC, NTPC and RINL formed for overseas acquisitions -- is also eyeing assets in Mozambique and the US.

The company had said it would farm in to the properties either through acquisition of the asset as a whole or equity participation.

The consortium had last month submitted a bid for buying a coal asset in Mongolia, which contains about 750 million tonne of reserves.

Since its incorporation in 2009, the grouping of five companies has not been able to acquire any assets abroad.

The ICVL board has a mandate to make acquisitions of overseas properties worth up to $300 million and in case it exceeds this limit, it will require Cabinet approval.

SAIL and CIL both have a 28% stake in company, while RINL, NMDC and NTPC have a 14% stake each.

source