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India Eyeing South African Coal Mines

India plans to acquire coking coal mines in South Africa in an attempt to boost its steel industry. Indian Coal Secretary Anil Swarup has said that the Narendra Modi government is discussing the issue with the concerned authorities in South Africa.

He also said that the successful acquisition of South African coal mines would help India increase the volume of its steel production in the next three years. According to the coal secretary, India wants to not depend on imports of coal for feeding its expanding steel industry.

Swarup further said that with poor production crippling the power supply, the state-run Coal India recently urged the government to ensure a steady supply of coal and to boost the output of steel industry. Immediately after receiving the request, the government assured Coal India that India would take all the necessary steps to triple its steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes in the next decade. At the same time, the government said that Coal India would have to look at assets abroad, as the country lacks sufficient reserves of coking or steelmaking coal.

Speaking at Reuters Global Commodities Summit in the Indian capital, Swarup recently stressed that senior Coal India officials have started holding talks with South African people. “We imported around 80-90 million tonnes of coking coal last (fiscal) year and if that is the amount that can come through a mine owned by Coal India, it would consider it,” he told the audience.

However, Swarup did not disclose the amount that Coal India would like to invest in South Africa for the acquisition, stating that money would not be an issue for the state-controlled coal mining company headquartered in Kolkata, as the largest coal producing company in the world had enough cash and bank balance of more than USD 8 billion for the financial year ended on March 31.

Meanwhile, Swarup claimed that the volume of coal imported by India, the world’s third-largest buyer, had fallen for the third consecutive month in September, as Coal India’s output jumped from 32 million tonnes to 494.2 million tonnes in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Reuters quoted Swarup as saying: “In three years, we should be able to mine (all the power-generating) coal we require. The quality of coal that is not available will still be imported.” He revealed that India was also planning to open up the nationalised sector and allow private players to mine and sell coal.

source: http://inserbia.info