india needs coal, irl to produce coal

India will require an extra 50 million tons of coal pa. in the near future. This will be good news for India Resources when the contract is signed and the go ahead is given.
"Signed heads of agreement with Bankura DRI to develop a new coal mine."


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26022838-643,00.html

RIO Tinto and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting are looking to sell state-owned giant Coal India stakes in thermal coal mines as the big Asian nation scrambles to cover an expected shortfall in domestic supply.

Coal India, the world's biggest coalminer, wants to import 50million tonnes of thermal coal a year from Australia, Indonesia and Mozambique from 2016-17 to cover a forecast increase in demand for power, chairman Partha Bhattacharya told The Australian yesterday. India imports Australian coking coal for its steel mills, but it takes only a fraction of Australia's 130 million tonnes a year of thermal coal exports.

Hancock, which is in the early stages of studies to build two large-scale Queensland thermal coalmines, and Rio, are understood to be among a number of Australian miners that have submitted expressions of interest to sell stakes in mines and projects to Coal India.

"We've had some very good responses from Australia -- better than what we had expected," said Mr Bhattacharya, who visited Australia with the Indian coal minister to explore investment opportunities.

He would not confirm interest from any individual companies.

In July, Coal India said it would make rapid acquisitions of coal resources in major exporting countries as it looked to plug a potential 200 million tonnes a year shortfall by 2012.

India's 11th five-year development plan aims to provide all villages and houses below the poverty line with power and to boost economic growth to 10 per cent by 2011-12.

Mr Bhattacharya said he planned to have a deal with one or more Australian miners within a year. He would not indicate what funds he had at his disposal.

Coal India is entertaining all levels of deals, from minority stakes in mines to becoming an operator.

The 26-strong Indian group Mr Bhattacharya was part of visited Rio Tinto mines in the Hunter Valley and Queensland this week.

When Coal India called for expressions of interest in July, it expected to be chasing coking coal mines in Australia.

However, a change of brief from the Indian Ministry of Steel has left Coal India focussing only on thermal coal while another company explores coking coal acquisitions.

India imports most of its thermal coal from Indonesia, which is closer than Australia.

Mr Bhattacharya said Australia's better quality coal meant there were trade-offs to the higher shipping costs. Coal India is reportedly chasing stakes in large-scale mines of 10 million to 15 million tonnes a year.

Mr Battacharya would give no indication of what portion of the planned 50 million tonnes a year of Coal India's production would come from Australia. The lion's share of output is expected to be from Australia and Indonesia.

Output from Mozambique would come from development of two exploration tenements secured there earlier this year.

Indian miners do not produce any Australian thermal coal.

ASX-listed Gujarat NRE Minerals, which is 82 per cent owned by Indian importer Gujarat NRE Coke, is the only Indian-controlled coalminer in Australia. It has two coking coalmines near Wollongong, from which it hopes to boost production in Australia from less than one million tonnes a year to seven million tonnes.