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ICVL in Advanced Talks for Coking Coal: Report

  • Indian state consortium International Coal Ventures Ltd is in advanced talks with several Asian countries and Australia to secure coking coal supplies, its head C S Verma told a newspaper. ICVL comprises utility NTPC, Steel Authority of India, iron ore miner NMDC, Coal Indiaand steelmaker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd "We are already in the process of signing agreements with some other governments in Asia," Verma, also the chairman of SAIL, told the paper.ICVL is also in talks with the Indonesian government to look at more mines, he said.

  • "In Indonesia, we have applied for government-to-government allocation for some other mines," Verma told the paper.It has appointed a consultant to look for mines in Indonesia and was hopeful of identifying them within 4-5 months, he said.While India has the fourth-largest proven coal reserves in the world, they are low quality and coking coal makes up only 17 percent of total reserves.In fiscal 2010, India imported 23 million tonnes of coking coal to meet its requirement of around 40 million tonnes, accounting for 34 percent of total coal imports, according to research by Ernst & Young.The demand for coking coal will only increase as new steel capacity comes online, with India's coking coal requirement expected to reach 90 million tonnes by fiscal 2020, according to Ernst & Young.

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