By IANS
New Delhi : The cabinet Thursday cleared the establishment of a special entity to buy coal assets overseas to meet the burgeoning demands of domestic power plants.
“Once the special purpose vehicle (SPV) is set up it will acquire metallurgical and thermal coal assets overseas,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Coal India Limited (CIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) will make up the SPV.
SAIL and CIL will invest Rs.10 billion each, while RINL, NTPC and NMDC would put in Rs.5 billion each.
India currently imports some 39 million tonnes of coal and this is expected to rise to 54 million tonnes by 2015 and to 151 million tonnes by 2030.