By IANS
New Delhi : State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) has joined hands with four other public-sector undertakings (PSUs) – Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), NTPC Ltd and National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC) — to look for and acquire coal mines abroad.
The NTPC, SAIL and IRNL are among the country’s biggest coal consumers.
“The government has approved formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with the five public sector undertakings – CIL, NTPC, SAIL, RINL and NDMC – as constituents for acquiring coal mines abroad to ensure security of supply of coking coal and high-quality thermal coal to meet their demand,” Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao said here Wednesday.
The minister was replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament.
“The approved initial authorised capital of the SPV has been fixed at Rs.100 billion. The SPV has an initial equity capital of Rs.35 billion. Towards that, SAIL and CIL have contributed Rs.10 billion each as an initial equity capital, while the other three PSUs have contributed Rs.5 billion each,” the minister added.
The CIL through its subsidiary Coal Videsh has also been exploring opportunities for acquisition of coal properties in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Canada and Australia, the minister said.