Vedanta, Nava Bharat bid for Zambian project

Two Indian firms with overseas identity -- Vedanta Resources and Nava Bharat (Singapore) -- are in a face-to-face battle for taking over Zambia's largest coal mine, Maamba Collieries. The Indian firms, which qualified for the final bid in October 2008, have submitted their technical and financial proposals to operate the mine as well as to construct a 400 mega watt (mw) thermal power plant near the mine.

William Musama, chief executive officer of ZCCM Investments Holdings(ZCCM-IH), the owner of the mine, recently told African media that the two firms had submitted their technical and financial offers and that a preferred bidder would be selected soon.

London-listed Vedanta and Nava Bharat (Singapore), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyderabad-based Nava Bharat Ventures, were among the 10 firms that submitted preliminary bids to develop the power station and to become equity partner in the coal mine. Earlier, London-based energy company Aldwych International was also shortlisted for the projects. It is believed that Aldwych has not turned up for the final bid. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta already has a presence in Zambia, being the majority shareholder in Konkola Copper Mines, which is the country's largest copper producer.

Maamba Collieries has 78.2 million tonnes of coal reserves to last over 70 years, while the mine has capacity to produce up to 1 million tonne annually. The coal mine produced around 600,000 tonne of coal during peak output in the 1980s. While the power demand in the mineral-rich Zambia rose due to new mines and industrial expansion, the electricity supply continued to be erratic. The submission of the technical and financial offers is the start of the final process, which had been initiated when ZCCM-IH issued a tender in 2007 inviting foreign participation by way of bids for revamping the operations of Maamba Collieries and building a power plant.

The power plant is aimed at supplying power to the country's vast copper and cobalt mines.