ICVL mulls 7 overseas coal mine acquisitions

Burying its past failures,International Coal Ventures Limited (ICVL),a special purpose vehicle of state-owned steel and mining companies,has prepared a blueprint to utilise its Rs 10,000-crore war-chest to acquire at least seven coal mines in Australia,Indonesia,USA and Mozambique in the coming months.

The steel ministry has told ICVL to intensify efforts to enhance its raw material security such that steel PSUs are not starved of coal. To begin with,ICVL has begun due diligence in Mozambique’s Ncondezi mine in the Moatize province. It has simultaneously opened talks for other mines in the country and is expected to put out a concerted bid this month. Its sight is trained on mineral-rich Australia too where there are hopes of securing a government-to-government (G2G) allocation of coal blocks. Besides,ICVL has also started talks with some individual miners. After losing out the non-binding bid for a metallurgical deposit of Stanwell Corporation Limited in Bowen basin last year,the SPV is keen to proceed with due caution,official sources told The Indian Express.

ICVL was formed on May 20,2009 and has a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. SAIL and Coal India each hold 28 per cent in the company. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited,National Mineral Development Corporation and National Thermal Power Corporation hold 14 per cent each. SAIL chairman C S Verma heads the SPV at present.

Sources said ICVL is preparing for a counter bid for a coal mine of Gloucestor Resources Limited in Australia. It is,however,believed to be lagging behind in its bid for acquiring 12 per cent in Australia’s Grosvenor Mine,which is a prime coking coal asset in the country’s Bowen basin. “The process has been put on hold,” a source said.