6 bidders queing up now

NEW DELHI -- The race for Australian coal miner Bandanna Energy has entered the second phase with representatives from interested companies such as state-owned NTPC visiting Australia for a physical inspection and data collection.

Bandanna, a firm listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, claims to represent the largest thermal coal inventory for any exploration company in Australia and has seen interest from other Indian companies such as GMR Infrastructure, Jindal Steel and Power, Aditya Birla Group and JSW Steel, which have submitted a non-binding bid. The transaction could involve partial or total sale of Bandanna's assets.

"After the non-binding bids were submitted, a shortlist was made," said a person familiar with the development, who did not want to be identified. Now, these shortlisted companies have been called for physical inspection, analysis of log details, geological data and mine plan. Once the due diligence is over, a price bid will be quoted by the interested companies.

There has been a surge of interest from Indian firms in securing assets overseas as the coal ministry has been unable to ensure coal supplies to sectors such as power and steel. Coal is abundantly available in the country, but its exploitation has been hobbled by lack of investment and concerns over environmental damage.

While questions emailed to Bandanna on Tuesday remained unanswered, NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury confirmed his firm's interest and said that a team from NTPC visited Australia last week.

A senior Jindal Steel executive, who declined to be named, confirmed his firm's interest in Bandanna. The company has a local office in Australia.

Bandanna holds 16 exploration permits in the Bowen and Galilee basins in coal-rich Queensland apart from licenses to explore for minerals and oil shale in the state, according to the company's Web site. It has reserves of at least 1.4 billion tons of coal.

The Indian firms are believed to be in competition with state-run Chinese miners such as

China Shenhua Energy Co. and Yanzhou Coal Mining Co., which are actively engaged in acquiring mining concessions overseas.