Paswan in Australia to secure coal for SAIL, RINL

In view of the massive capacity expansion announced by the state-run steel makers SAIL and RINL, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan is leading a high-level delegation to Australia to explore the possibility of ensuring coking coal supply to these PSUs.

"To minimise its cost of production, SAIL has been looking out for acquisition of mines. It is actively looking out for acquiring coking coal mines in Australia," Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

The delegation, which left yesterday, includes SAIL chief S K Roongta, Joint Secretary Steel Ministry G Elias and senior officials of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and from National Mineral Development Corporation, a senior Steel Ministry official said.

He said the Australian government has invited both the Indian government and SAIL for a visit to the country to chalk out details. "We will seek to widen the cooperation for ensuring steady supply of coking coal in Western Australia," he said.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is said to be keen in securing coal supply from Macarthur and Tiara coalfields which have huge reserves of quality coking coal.

About the size of the acquisition, Paswan said it was too early to put figures, but said besides acquisition, other options could be entering into joint venture with a local partner.

The minister said SAIL's push for acquiring mines was a part of the roadmap charted out for the state-run unit, which envisaged it to become a globally competitive company with an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the next three years.

"The Board of SAIL has been given authority to carry out the task to achieve the objective and there will not be any interference from the government," Paswan said.

SAIL has joined hands with Coal India Limited to form a SPV having a capital base of Rs 10,000 crore for acquiring coal mines in the overseas.

Paswan will meet Australia's federal minister for industries Ian McFarlane and the provincial governments of Western Australia. Besides, he will also meet representatives of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy and also officials from mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

With SAIL and RINL set to double their installed capacity and private steel companies also adding to their capacity, ensuring raw material security has assumed prime importance, he said. These companies together import over 15 million tonnes of coking coal every year, of which nearly 90 per cent was from Australia, he pointed out.

The minister will also visit coal mines at Wollongong and also tour Port Kembla to witness high-speed handling of cargo.