CIL assessing reserves at Mozambique mines
10 Sept 2014 5:09 AM IST
Coal India Africana Limitada (CIAL), a subsidiary of Coal India in Mozambique, undertook explanatory activities which includes drilling of around 35,000 metre in the two coal blocks in the last fiscal, it said. 'Around 15,000 meter of geo-physical logging has been carried out in FY'14,' Coal India Ltd said, adding that the coal samples were being analysed at the labs of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI).
Coal India Africana Limitada had won a five-year licence for exploration and development of mines in Mozambique in August, 2009. Two coal blocks - A1 and A2 - at Motaize in Tete Province of Mozambique, are spread over 200 sq km.
CIL had earlier said that it plans to form a panel of consultants which would help the PSU in acquiring, developing and operating coal mines overseas.
The coal major is eyeing assets abroad to meet the domestic demand. Coal India Ltd had earlier invited bids from bankers and interested parties for acquiring assets abroad. The Coal Ministry had earlier said that acquisition of coal mines overseas should be done in an aggressive manner to meet the country's energy requirements. In order to tide over the fossil fuel shortages, the government is also planning to import coal.
Meanwhile, as the government awaits Supreme Court's decision on the mines allotted since 1993, Ministry of Power and Coal is firming up plans to commence the auction process by the end of current financial year (2014-15). The apex court will continue the hearing on the fate of coal blocks allotted between 1993 and 2011 on Tuesday.
Last month, the Supreme Court had held that all 218 allocations made from 1993 to 2011 are illegal and arbitrary. According to sources, the Ministry of Power and Coal is planning to auction the blocks, allocation of which may be scrapped by the apex court, by the end of the fiscal.
'The entire process of coal block auction will take at least 6 months,' the source said. The consequences of declaring the allocations illegal would be considered tomorrow taking into account the investments made by companies for various projects and the procedure to be adopted for cancellation.
The government had urged Supreme Court to spare 46 coal blocks — 40 functional ones and six which are ready to start operations.
The apex court has asked Centre, the three Associations — Coal Producers Association, Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association and Independent Power Producers Association of India — and petitioners to file their affidavits.
Coal India Africana Limitada had won a five-year licence for exploration and development of mines in Mozambique in August, 2009. Two coal blocks - A1 and A2 - at Motaize in Tete Province of Mozambique, are spread over 200 sq km.
CIL had earlier said that it plans to form a panel of consultants which would help the PSU in acquiring, developing and operating coal mines overseas.
The coal major is eyeing assets abroad to meet the domestic demand. Coal India Ltd had earlier invited bids from bankers and interested parties for acquiring assets abroad. The Coal Ministry had earlier said that acquisition of coal mines overseas should be done in an aggressive manner to meet the country's energy requirements. In order to tide over the fossil fuel shortages, the government is also planning to import coal.
Meanwhile, as the government awaits Supreme Court's decision on the mines allotted since 1993, Ministry of Power and Coal is firming up plans to commence the auction process by the end of current financial year (2014-15). The apex court will continue the hearing on the fate of coal blocks allotted between 1993 and 2011 on Tuesday.
Last month, the Supreme Court had held that all 218 allocations made from 1993 to 2011 are illegal and arbitrary. According to sources, the Ministry of Power and Coal is planning to auction the blocks, allocation of which may be scrapped by the apex court, by the end of the fiscal.
'The entire process of coal block auction will take at least 6 months,' the source said. The consequences of declaring the allocations illegal would be considered tomorrow taking into account the investments made by companies for various projects and the procedure to be adopted for cancellation.
The government had urged Supreme Court to spare 46 coal blocks — 40 functional ones and six which are ready to start operations.
The apex court has asked Centre, the three Associations — Coal Producers Association, Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association and Independent Power Producers Association of India — and petitioners to file their affidavits.
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