National Aluminium Seeks to Buy 24% of Indonesian Coal Mine
National Aluminium Co., seeking to build a smelter and a power plant in Indonesia, is in talks with two coal companies to buy a stake of as much as 24 percent in one of their mines, Chairman B.L. Bagra said.
MEC Coal and Bumi Murau Coal have offered stakes and supplies for National Aluminium’s planned projects in East Kalimantan province, Bagra said today in an interview in New Delhi. The company expects to complete the valuation of the mines before the end of the month, he said.
National Aluminium, India’s second-biggest aluminum producer, plans to spend $4 billion in Indonesia as it seeks new overseas markets and raw material sources. Demand for the lightweight metal is rising Indonesia, where economic growth this year is forecast to reach as much as 6.5 percent, the upper end of the central bank’s target.
“In two to three weeks, we hope to take one of the offers to our board,” Bagra said.
National Aluminium plans to import 800,000 metric tons of coal in the year that began April 1, 45 percent more than the previous year, after increasing its refining capacity by about one-third last month. The company has invited offers for importing 300,000 tons of coal, Bagra said.
The company is likely to start production at its Orissa coal mine by the end of 2012, producing 2 million tons annually. National Aluminium needs about 7 million tons of coal annually to produce electricity for its plants in India.
The state-run aluminum maker plans to spend 3 billion rupees ($68 million) to build a 50-megawatt wind power plant in India and expects to award contracts in about two months, Bagra said. The company, which is also considering investing in independent power projects, plans to hire advisors to help bid for large power projects of 4,000 megawatt capacity that the Indian government is offering.
The company is in talks with iron ore miner NMDC Ltd. (NMDC), Neyveli Lignite Corp. Ltd. and power-equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) to form a consortium to bid for these projects. National Aluminium will also form a venture with Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd. to set up a 1,400 megawatt nuclear plant at Kakrapar near Surat in Gujarat, Bagra said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi at rsingh133@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net.
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