International Coal Ventures zeroes in on coking assets for acquisition

Has identified assets in Australia, Mozambique and US, which are at various stages of due diligence

International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL), a special purpose vehicle formed by five public sector undertakings (PSU), has zeroed in on coking coal assets in Australia, Mozambique and the US for acquisition.

“We have identified four or five assets in Australia, Mozambique and the US, which are at various stages of due diligence,” ICVL and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Chairman, C S Verma, said. The reserves of the assets range between 30 and 150 million tonnes.

ICVL—promoted by Steel Authority of India, Coal India, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, NTPC and NMDC—was set up in 2009 for the acquisition of raw material assets of up to Rs 1,500 crore.

However, at least one company, NTPC, has expressed its desire to exit ICVL. Verma said, the board would decide in what proportion NTPC’s stake would be divided among existing shareholders. While SAIL and Coal India (CIL) hold 28.7 per cent each in ICVL, each of the other three PSUs hold 14.3 per cent.

According to officials close to the development, NTPC was planning to exit the company, as it was interested in thermal coal assets. The formation of ICVL had been questioned earlier as well, as the PSUs were independently scouting for assets.

Asked whether CIL was planning to exit ICVL, as earlier reports had indicated, Verma, ruled out the possibility. “They have been regularly attending the meetings, Coal India is not exiting,” Verma said.

Verma feels this was the best time to buy assets, as coal prices were at a low. “I am hoeful that something will mature this year,” he said. He also said that the market for steel had also bottomed out and from henceforth prices should go up. SAIL would commission an additional five million tonnes this year, as part of its expansion and modernisation programme.

Verma was in Kolkata for a meeting of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE), an apex body of public sector enterprises (PSEs). The meeting was aimed at identifying issues of concern facing PSEs in eastern region.