Coal India Will Purchase Overseas Mines to Meet Import Demand

[phantom power]

Coal India Ltd., the world’s largest producer of the fuel, is studying the acquisition of five mines in the U.S., Australia and Indonesia to meet the country’s demand for the fuel, Chairman Partha Bhattacharyya said.

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“Coal asset prices may go up in future because of rising demand from India and environmental constraints, which are likely to hamper production,” said K.K. Mital, a New Delhi- based fund manager with Globe Capital Market Ltd. “So, now is the right time for Coal India to make these acquisitions, if they come at the right price.”

India’s government has pledged to provide electricity nationwide by 2012 and needs to increase installed generation capacity to 200,000 megawatts to sustain economic growth, according to the power ministry. More than half of the current capacity of 167,278 megawatts is fueled by coal.

Coal demand in India may more than triple in the next two decades to 2 billion metric tons, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said Sept 24. India produces 530 million tons of coal a year and imports about 67 million tons, the minister said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-25/coal-india-will-purchase-overseas-mines-to-meet-import-demand.html