Reliance Power is believed to be one of the firms short-listed for the auction of diversified industrial group Wesfarmers' Premier coal mine in Western Australia.
According to a report in 'The Australian' daily today, Wesfarmers chief Richard Goyder put the asset on the auction block in March.
The move was prompted by a number of interested parties approaching the company in the wake of the 800 million Australian dollars deal that was signed last year between India's Lanco Infratech and collapsed miner Griffin Coal for a western Australia mine, neighbouring the Premier mine, last year.
The Griffin coal mine had also attracted interest from Reliance Power, besides GMR Group and Adani Power.
Indicative bids for Premier were submitted about a week-and-a-half ago and Wesfarmers and its advisers at Gresham and UBS started the second stage of the process this week, the report said.
The auction was expected to be dominated by Indian and Asian players seeking coal for energy.
Besides Reliance, GVK Infrastructure and Lanco are also believed to have evinced an interest in Premier.
Premier has estimated reserves of more than 100 million tonne of sub-bituminous thermal coal.
Earnings before interest and tax from the mine have been estimated at just $30-35 million, about 5% of the company's total resources income.
While Wesfarmers would love a sale at similar prices to Griffin, analysts have estimated the value of the asset at $400 million-plus.
