Coal news and updates

It’s final. Coal India decides to quit ICVL JV

February 24: It’s final. Coal India Limited (CIL) is quitting International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL).

The company announced in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange that the "CIL board, in its meeting held on February 13, 2015, directed that Coal India Limited should withdraw from International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL)."

This decision had been hanging fire since 2012 when the CIL board had taken a decision to quit the special purpose vehicle (SPV) that had been set up to acquire mines overseas. The decision had been taken to this effect since the board had felt it involved financial burden without the commensurate advantages.
ICVL had been set up in 2009 as a joint venture between Steel Authority of India (SAIL), CIL and NMDC as per the decision of the steel ministry in a bid to secure vital raw materials assets like coking coal and thermal coal mines overseas.

While CIL and SAIL each held 28%, RINL, NTPC and NMDC commanded 14% each in the SPV.

The last major activity that happened at ICVL was its acquisition of Rio Tinto’s 2.6-billion tons coal assets in Mozambique for $50 million. However, according to reports, CIL and NTPC had decided to stay away from this acquisition.

It may be noted that there had been rumblings of unrest even earlier, with NTPC indicating to the power ministry that it had wanted to quit the consortium.