To alleviate the growing pressure on renewable energy, Coal India Ltd is planning to diversify from its core business of coal extraction. Mohit Aggarwal, the Chief Managing Director of Aastha Minmet India Pvt Ltd highlights that CIL is looking forward to emerge as a full-fledged mining company.
As per SN Prasad, the marketing director of Coal India Ltd, “The state-controlled enterprise has the competence to expand into mining of various natural resources such as iron ore, bauxite, copper and nickel.”
“Mining is our strength,” said Gopal Singh, interim chairman and managing director. “Because of the expertise in mining, CIL will be very successful in whatever mining venture it undertakes.”
Aastha Group states that it is looked upon as a major shift in strategy from pursuing growth in coal extraction. Earlier, CIL had a target of scaling up coal production to 1 billion tonne by year 2020. However, the production target was cut down from 660 million tonne to 600 million tonne due to moderate demand.
The groundwork for diversification has already commenced. Various copper and nickel mines in Africa have also been identified. However, it is yet to be decided how CIL may invest in them. As per the officials, the company is likely to have different verticals for different resources.
“In the light of pressure from renewable energy, it is a step in the right direction,” said Partha S Bhattacharyya, former chairman of CIL.
He further added that the leaders of mining industry like BHP Billiton Plc and the Rio Tinto Group strive to extract a wide variety of resources from across the world.
Mr Bhattacharyya believes that CIL should start this diversification within India, and ideally with iron ore mining. According to him, the Centre should consider handing control of Orissa Minerals Development Co Ltd (OMDC) to Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. As a matter of fact, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, a leading steel producer based in Visakhapatnam was given control of OMDC in the year 2011. However, the company was not able to restart mining at OMDC’s mines in Odisha.
“If Mahanadi Coalfields gets control, it can transform OMDC in a year because of the clout it enjoys with the Odisha government,” said Bhattacharyya. Premium quality iron ore with 68% ferrous content is produced by the mines of OMDC. However, they are currently not operational for want of regulatory clearances.
A vision document for 2030 is being prepared by KPMG for CIL, says Aastha Group. Certainly, despite the diversification, CIL is expected to focus on primarily on coal mining.
"A vision document for 2030 is being prepared by KPMG for CIL, says Aastha Group" Good Luck for this.
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