Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Coal India Ltd., the state-owned monopoly, may import the fuel this year for the first time to tide over a shortage of the commodity faced by power producers, Chairman Partha Bhattacharyya said.

``This is uncharted territory for us because we have never imported before,'' Bhattacharyya said today in New Delhi. The company may buy 4 million metric tons of coal from overseas after buyers confirm their orders, he said.

India's economy, Asia's third biggest, has grown more than 8 percent annually since 2003, boosting the need for coal used by power plants, cement companies and steelmakers. The government estimates India will import 60 million tons of the fuel annually by 2012 to boost supplies that lag behind demand.

Coal India which controls most of the nation's supply of the fuel, plans to acquire mines in Indonesia, Mozambique and Australia, Bhattacharyya said.

Coal India, NTPC Ltd., Steel Authority of India Ltd., Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. and NMDC Ltd. have formed a company to buy coal assets overseas. The company may have a capital of $2.3 billion.

The company is seeking to buy mines in Australia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and thermal coal assets in Indonesia and South Africa, K. Ranganath, marketing director, said March 4. It plans to spend 90 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) in the next five years to raise output and help ease a shortage forecast to reach 51.1 million tons by 2012.

Coal India's output is expected to rise to 405 million tons next year and 520 million tons by 2012 from 380 million tons now.

India uses coal to power half of its electricity-generation capacity.

Coal India and state-run Singareni Collieries Co. produced a combined 30.02 million tons in July, 7.4 percent less than planned, the government said.

To contact the reporter for this story:
Vipin V. Nair in Mumbai at 
vnair12@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 5, 2008 05:05 EDT