NEW DELHI, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Five Indian public sector companies have joined hands to acquire coal mines abroad, local news agency Press Trust of India reported Wednesday.
Five Indian state-owned Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) companies have decided on an initial investment of 35 billion Indian rupees (around 885 million U.S. dollars) to meet the demand of steel industry, power sector and others.
The five companies included India's largest integrated iron and steel producer Steel Authority Of India Limited (SAIL), steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), India's largest thermal power generating company NTPC Limited, Coal India Limited (CIL) which contributes around 85 percent of coal production in India, and India's single largest iron ore producer and exporter NMDC.
The Indian government has approved the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with the five companies as constituents for acquiring coal mines abroad to ensure the supply of coking coal and high quality thermal coal.
SAIL and CIL have each put in 10 billion Indian rupees (around 253 million U.S. dollars) as an initial equity capital while the other three PSUs have contributed 5 billion rupees (around 126 million) each, Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) Wednesday.
The approved initial authorized capital of the SPV has been fixed at 100 billion rupees (around 2.5 billion U.S. dollars) and the initial equity capital is 35 billion rupees to be contributed by the five PSUs.
The minister informed that CIL has also been exploring opportunities through its subsidiary Coal Videsh for acquisition of coal properties in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Canada and Australia.
Five Indian state-owned Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) companies have decided on an initial investment of 35 billion Indian rupees (around 885 million U.S. dollars) to meet the demand of steel industry, power sector and others.
The five companies included India's largest integrated iron and steel producer Steel Authority Of India Limited (SAIL), steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), India's largest thermal power generating company NTPC Limited, Coal India Limited (CIL) which contributes around 85 percent of coal production in India, and India's single largest iron ore producer and exporter NMDC.
The Indian government has approved the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with the five companies as constituents for acquiring coal mines abroad to ensure the supply of coking coal and high quality thermal coal.
SAIL and CIL have each put in 10 billion Indian rupees (around 253 million U.S. dollars) as an initial equity capital while the other three PSUs have contributed 5 billion rupees (around 126 million) each, Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) Wednesday.
The approved initial authorized capital of the SPV has been fixed at 100 billion rupees (around 2.5 billion U.S. dollars) and the initial equity capital is 35 billion rupees to be contributed by the five PSUs.
The minister informed that CIL has also been exploring opportunities through its subsidiary Coal Videsh for acquisition of coal properties in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Canada and Australia.
